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culturestories.bsky.social
Culture Stories
@culturestories.bsky.social
24 followers 5 following 45 posts
Dedicated to finding fascinating arts & culture people & their stories from 19th & 20th century Europe, especially France 🇫🇷
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culturestories.bsky.social
Culture Stories @culturestories.bsky.social · Nov 29
Hi BlueSky. Follow me if (like me!) you love:

⚜️ Beautiful, old images
⚜️ 19th & 20th century history
⚜️ Creative people who have defied convention, with a strong vision of their own
⚜️ True stories that prove fact really is stranger than fiction
⚜️ Unexpected links
⚜️ Inspiring places, esp France!
culturestories.bsky.social
Travel back to turn of the century Paris and meet the illusionist’s assistant with a story of her own… #JehanneD’Alcy

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...
October 8, 2025 at 7:26 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
Read my latest Culture Stories about #LouiseCheruit

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...
Louise Chéruit (1866 - 1955)
One of the first female couturiers to run a major Parisian fashion house, Chéruit was one of the most celebrated designers of her day. Could it be that a love affair caused it all to fizzle away?
open.substack.com
October 2, 2025 at 8:38 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
Read my mini bio about Evelina Palmer-Sikelianos, the American with the beautiful long red hair who sought to share the magic of Greek theatre, dance and art with the world.

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...

#EvelinaPalmerSikelianos
August 1, 2025 at 7:12 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
How the Winnaretta Singer is seen by high society (1889) vs how she sees herself (1885). Which painting do you prefer?

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...

#WinnarettaSinger #JohnSingerSargent #1880s #SingerFamily
July 24, 2025 at 5:39 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
A life filled with paintings, jazz and skiing but punctuated by two world wars and an imprisonment by the Gestapo. No wonder Jean Fautrier’s paintings evoke such strong feelings…

#JeanFautrier #Tachisme #FrenchPainter

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...
July 17, 2025 at 10:01 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
Jane Avril, the star can-can dancer at the Moulin Rouge, had a body that moved like a firework and a mind that adored all things intellectual and artistic…

#JaneAvril

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...
Jane Avril (1868 - 1943)
The Moulin Rouge can-can dancer who inspired some of Toulouse-Lautrec's most recognisable pieces and an iconic 2001 film.
open.substack.com
July 9, 2025 at 8:51 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
When the mischievous young Alexandre Lunois told his teacher he wanted to become an artist one day, he got pity and laughter in return. Maybe there was something about this response that fuelled this young man to prove his teacher wrong?

#AlexandreLunois

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...
July 2, 2025 at 3:48 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
Catherine Dior (1917 - 2008)
💐
This week I explored the remarkable story of Christian Dior’s sister, WW2 French Resistance fighter, and concentration camp survivor.

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...

#CatherineDior
Catherine Dior (1917 - 2008)
The remarkable story of Christian Dior’s sister, WW2 French Resistance fighter, and concentration camp survivor.
open.substack.com
June 25, 2025 at 8:43 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
In my latest Substack post I wrote about the origins of art nouveau.

According to the New York Times, art dealer Siegfried Bing “did more to advance Art Nouveau in Paris than any other person.”

#ArtNouveau #SiegfriedBing

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...
June 20, 2025 at 8:59 AM
culturestories.bsky.social
This week I wrote about Loie Fuller, the innovative dancer who found adoration in Belle Époque Paris and became a living, moving embodiment of Art Nouveau.

#LoieFuller #BelleEpoque #ArtNouveau

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...
June 11, 2025 at 9:20 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
With over 3,000 paintings to his name, artist Jean-Gabriel Domergeu has left quite the legacy behind. Which is your favourite?

#JeanGabrielDomergue

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...
June 4, 2025 at 4:09 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
Revisit my first Culture Stories post about forgotten poster designer Dora Batty - we’ll travel back to 1920s London, see vintage transport posters and stop off at a cottage by the sea.

#DoraBatty

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...
Culture Stories RETOLD: Dora Batty (1891 - 1966)
Revisit the first Culture Stories post with me as we look back at the creator behind dozens of enduring 1920s Transport of London posters.
open.substack.com
May 30, 2025 at 7:16 AM
culturestories.bsky.social
Focusing on themes of motherhood, femininity and the domestic, Mary Cassatt was one Impressionist who celebrated women’s lives. Is this the reason why she’s been relatively forgotten? And conversely why we’re discovering her once more? #MaryCassatt

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...
May 21, 2025 at 9:49 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
An 1899 enchanting Art Nouveau fairy tale won a grand prize at the Exposition Universelle 1900. Over a hundred years later this illustrated treasure is largely forgotten. That is until two artists took it upon themselves to restore this masterpiece… #artnouveau

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...
"The Chronicle of the Three Sisters": The forgotten Art Nouveau fairy tale and your chance to help bring it back to life.
First published in 1899, this rare and richly illustrated masterpiece has been lovingly restored and could be reprinted with the help of an exciting Kickstarter campaign.
open.substack.com
May 14, 2025 at 7:11 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
When it comes to sumptuous 19th century Paris fashion, few couturiers were as skilled as Emile Pingat. So why did he fall into obscurity?

#EmilePingat

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...
May 8, 2025 at 8:47 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
"And the artist within me, the urge for sacrifice and hard work, those undeniable signs of the artist?

Then and there I was resolved to be consistent, to obey no other urge than that of my art…”

#RomaineBrooks

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...
May 2, 2025 at 4:17 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
With a stylish store on London’s trendy Kings Road, this designer was dressing rich and famous youthquakers by the time she turned 22.

In my latest Substack post I look back at her legacy among the Sixties designers who came to define the London Look.

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...

#KikiByrne
Meet... Kiki Byrne (1937 - 2013)
The young designer who helped shake up British fashion in the 1960s
open.substack.com
April 16, 2025 at 3:53 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
Louise Boulanger
👗

“Women who dare to wear clothes that are strikingly original and about three seasons ahead of the style naturally gravitate to Louiseboulanger.”

Read my latest Substack post for a mini bio of this daring fashion designer!

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...

#LouiseBoulanger
Meet... Louise Boulanger (1878 - 1950)
The Parisian fashion designer who dominated the French capital's fashion scene in the Twenties and Thirties and dressed stars such as Marlene Dietrich.
open.substack.com
April 10, 2025 at 8:50 AM
culturestories.bsky.social
Can you believe that at one time this fabulous lady was the highest paid entertainer in the world? Why isn’t she a household name? #Mistinguett
April 2, 2025 at 6:32 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
Albert Marquet (1875 - 1947)
🌊
Marquet’s love of depicting waterscapes knew no bounds. It was a lifelong obsession that would see him paint stunning blue scenes in Venice, Algiers, Marseille’s, Naples, and beyond.

#AlbertMarquet #Fauvism #Impressionism

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...
March 26, 2025 at 4:23 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
Immortalised by the likes of Renoir, model and artists’ muse Suzanne Valadon has a compelling story of her own. In light of the new exhibition at @centrepompidou.bsky.social which is putting this groundbreaking artist centre stage, I wrote a profile of her!

open.substack.com/pub/cultures...
February 14, 2025 at 4:39 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
#BornOnThisDay Marguerite Durand, who launched her own feminist newspaper, La Fronde, in 1897 run and written entirely by women.

Oh and she had a penchant for big cats, which she would casually walk around Paris with. Including a lion she named “Tiger.” #MargueriteDurand #LaFronde
January 25, 2025 at 12:02 AM
culturestories.bsky.social
Angelo Mariani wrote of painter Luigi Loir:

“There is a dilettantism of a stroller and the contemplation of a poet in him. One feels that all of his impressions are real and that he only paints them while under a spell.”

#LuigiLoir
January 22, 2025 at 11:35 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
Evander Berry Wall (1861 - 1940)
🎩
#BornOnThisDay was a wealthy socialite known to wear “extraordinary costumes” and win fashion contests.

He was awarded a French legion of honour medal during WWI for using his social connections to raise funds for wounded French servicemen.

#EvanderBerryWall
January 14, 2025 at 11:46 PM
culturestories.bsky.social
Evelina Palmer-Sikelianos (9 January 1874 – 4 June 1952)
🇬🇷
#BornOnThisDay the beautiful red-haired Evelina loved Greek culture.

With her husband Angelos Sikelianos she launched the Delphic Festival: a 2-day 1927 event with museum visits and performances in ancient theatres.
#EvaPalmerSikelianos
January 9, 2025 at 9:40 PM