Response to Fashion Photographer Lisa Cohen, in her article “Velvet Is Very Important”: Madge Garland and the Work of Fashion presents an interesting discussion, as she touches upon the life and work of Madge Garland, the fashion editor of well-known British Vogue. The author of the article undertakes an attempt to discuss the work of the British fashion expert and icon Madge Garland in the industry of world fashion, considering the place occupied by Madge Garland in the history of modernism. Lisa Cohen thoroughly explores the relationship between the practice of discretion and the exercise of taste, arguing for the importance to rethink art and labor as they relate to modernism. One of the most important aspects of Madge Garlands life and work for Lisa Cohen was to understand what is the evidence of a life, of affect, of labor, of significance and how is it produced? (Cohen) In order to support her thesis, Lisa Cohen makes an assumption that while fashion and other so-called minor arts have now veered into view for scholars of modernism, they still tend to be seen in that context, not for themselves but through the lens of high literary or artistic production. In other words, our understanding of modernism does not yet truly account for the labor and language of endeavors such as fashion (Cohen).
The author masterly combines a well-thought narration with the brilliant evidences she offers on behalf of the claim.
Lisa Cohen’s article shows a sustained focus on fashion, as well as the problems of the fashion industry. The author of the article displays Madge Garland as the person consistently fascinated by fashion and the influence fashion has on our consciousness. In general use, Lisa Cohen uses a wide range of examples from the life of Madge Garland and the experiences in the fashion industry in order to encourage the reader thinking about the modernist problem, placing the emphasis on idea that art, labor and modernism are interrelated. Lisa Cohen writes her essay about Madge Garland reminding that Madge Garland was not only famous for being the editor of the British Vogue and some other fashion magazines during the 1920-1930s, but also was the consultant to several textile companies, and the founding Professor of Fashion in the Royal College of Art soon after World War II. Apart from that, as it is written by Lisa Cohen, Madge Garland was also an advisor to the government on international trade in clothes and textile. Madge Garland was so fascinated by the world of fashion that also wrote a number of books dedicated to the fashion and the art of clothing.
The Essay on Art History: Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa Art History Analysis The Mona Lisa is a portrait of a woman sitting with hands crossed and staring at the viewer with slight smile. The relaxed, three-quarter pose is different from the stiff, profile portraits that were the normal at this time. The woman sits very upright with her arms folded, which is also a sign of her reserved posture. Her eyes meet the gaze of the observer, drawing ...
Lisa Cohen speaks about Madge Garland in warm and admirable tones, as she writes that Madge Garland was someone whose story lays bare the questions about achievement and about evidence raised by fashion, bibliographical writing, and queer criticism. (Cohen) As we read the article, we approach the understanding that the editor of Vogue was obviously the person, who didnt even realized that she was the woman destined to be remembered. Lisa Cohen discovers the image of Madge Garland as a woman, for whom necessary and desired public visibility co-existed with intensive efforts to cloak herself. (Cohen) Through examination of Madge Garlands life, the life that, from the words of Lisa Cohen, was shaped by and that shaped modernism, the reader gains knowledge of the history of modernism that reveals itself in Garlands activity and work. The history of modernism manifests itself through the attention to the place of decoration and fashion and implies “understanding the structures and possibilities of a queer life in England in the first half of the twentieth century. (Cohen) In her “Velvet Is Very Important”: Madge Garland and the Work of Fashion, Lisa Cohen claims that we cant understand British modernism without understanding discretion, and that we cant understand either without revising our assumptions about biography so that it takes into account, but does not simply celebrate, the lives, work, and archives of figures like Madge Garland.
The Essay on Post Modernism Explained
‘Jean-François Lyotard, Ph.D., (b. 1924 in Versailles) became one of the world’s foremost philosophers, noted for his analysis of the impact of postmodernity on the human condition. A key figure in contemporary French philosophy, his interdisciplinary discourse covers a wide variety of topics including knowledge and communication; the human body; modernist and postmodern art, ...
(Cohen) From the very beginning of the article to the very end the reader is captivated by Lisa Cohen’s use of Madge Garlands life to inspire the reader with the thought that it is a mistake to think of discretion of the opposite the artful, arch, apparently public stance of camp. (Cohen) Obviously, the examples introduced by Lisa Cohen, are relevant and convincing. The article contains no scholarly statistics; however, as far as it is written in a vivid and carefully chosen language, it will be an interesting reading for a wide circle of audience. The author is quite fair and honest in her writing, and there is no evidence of dishonesty or a discreditable attempt to manipulate the reader. Although the text sometimes is rich in emotional context and background, it is still rather aimed to appeal on the readers’ reasoning than to pure emotions. It is quite difficult to find answer on how does Lisa Cohen establishes the image of herself that we sense in the article, but after reading “Velvet Is Very Important”: Madge Garland and the Work of Fashion, we can come to conclusion that the theme of fashion and its relation to modernism was of essential interest for Lisa Cohen, as this was one of few biographical essays, in which Lisa Cohen tries to examine the discourse of fashion and labor through the prism of the historical and aesthetic context of trans-Atlantic modernism. Works Cited Cohen, Lisa.
“Velvet Is Very Important”: Madge Garland and the Work of Fashion. 2005. 20 February 2008 ..
