About this Event
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We’re thrilled to welcome Genevieve Wheeler Brown to Bedford Books!
She’ll be in conversation with Sara Bliss about her gorgeous and fascinating book, Beyond Blue & White. We can't think of a better conversation leading into The Ticking Tent weekend in Bedford!
Books will be available for sale and signing, and light refreshments will be served. Ticket price includes a $20 shopping credit to use at the event.
ABOUT THE BOOK
*A NPR Here and Now Editor's Pick!*
An absorbing work of cultural history that reveals the stories behind one of the world's most coveted and beloved ceramic.
When over seventy-five pieces of rare and intriguing 17th and 18th century Delftware are rediscovered in an historic Manhattan townhouse, decorative art advisor and writer Genevieve Wheeler Brown quickly recognizes that, together, these pieces tell an amazing story. What begins as a curatorial exercise quickly evolves not only into an exploration of this colorful, expressive, and sometimes even humorous decorative art, coveted for hundreds of years, but also an unexpected uncovering of forceful female lives yet untold.
Connecting the accounts of women across centuries, Beyond Blue and White allows us to craft a more complete picture of female experience through the lens of material culture. We meet female Delftware makers, including Barbara Rotteveel founder of “The Three Bells” Delftware factory in 1671. We are introduced to female Delftware patrons such as Queen Mary II, who found her means of expression while creating a vogue in the 17th century for Delft blue and white across royal courts. And then there are the female collectors beginning in the 19th century who saw the artistry and craft in these ceramics others had overlooked. Foremost among them was Mrs. J. Pierpont Morgan and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt II who came together with fellow New York women and laid the groundwork for women in the museum world while preserving decorative arts with an educational mission.
With illustrations of period objects, documents, maps, paintings, prints and drawings, Beyond Blue and White is a colorful celebration of an iconic decorative art and dynamic women living in extraordinary times. Wheeler Brown's rich narrative encourages us to see beyond the dazzling cobalt glaze of Delftware to consider that these vessels are also our connection to a history with a fascinating group of women at its center.
ABOUT GENEVIEVE WHEELER BROWN
As a decorative art advisor and writer with over thirty years in the art world, including a decade with Christie’s in New York and London, Genevieve Wheeler Brown has been actively involved in the decorative arts community. She has also participated on the Antiques Roadshow as an appraiser with an eye out for overlooked “treasure.” In her role, she has held innumerable objects, from fake Stradivari violins to gold-mounted Faberge eggs, considering their value but also the stories they can tell.
Beyond Blue and White has been named an NPR Here & Now Editors’ Pick, The Art Newspaper’s Book Bag Selection, and received glowing reviews by the Magazine ANTIQUES and The Wall Street Journal.
ABOUT SARA BLISS
Sara Bliss is a creative brand consultant and bestselling author who specializes in collaborating with high-level founders and brands on books and content marketing. Sara is the Founder of Scribes & Stories, a full-service story agency.
Sara has written 11 books across genres—memoir, business, wellness, beauty, design and travel. Her books include Take the Leap: Change Your Career, Change Your Life and Hotel Chic at Home. She is the co-author of Aspen Style with Aerin Lauder and three bestselling books with beauty guru Bobbi Brown. Her articles have run in the Wall Street Journal, Town & Country, and Travel & Leisure.
As a brand consultant, Sara does a mix of content marketing, founder advisory, and brand updates. Former and current brands include Alex Mill, Abercrombie & Kent, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Dona Vega Mezcal, Penny’s Flight, the Bone Marrow & Cancer Foundation, L'Etoile Sport, and AERIN.
Event venue & nearby stays
Bedford Books, 13 Court Road, Bedford, United States
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