Gronchi Rosa
The Gronchi Rosa is a rare Italian postage stamp design error. The 205 liras rosa was intended for the stopover in Peru. The artist made a mistake with the boundaries between Peru and Ecuador.
Gunta Stölzl
Gunta Stölzl was a German textile artist who played a fundamental role in the development of the Bauhaus school’s weaving workshop.
Henri Vever
Henri Vever was one of the most preeminent European jewelers of the early 20th century. Henri was also a collector of a broad range of fine art, including prints, paintings, and books of both European and Asian origin. At the peak of World War I, however, Vever was forced to dispose of the bulk of his collection, selling some 7996 prints to the Japanese industrial mogul Matsukata Kōjirō, who purchased them sight-unseen based on the collection's reputation.
Narkomfin Building
The Narkomfin Building is a block of flats in Moscow. Only two of four planned buildings were completed. The building is squeezed between old and new territories of United States Embassy at 25, Novinsky Boulevard. A fine example of Constructivist architecture and avant-garde interior planning, it is presently in a dilapidated state; most units were vacated by residents years ago.
Fidelis Cloer
In a career spanning two decades, Fidelis Cloer has supplied presidents and dictators with the finest luxury armored vehicles money can buy.
Ndebele housing painting
In the 18th century the Ndzundza Ndebele people of South Africa created their own tradition and style of house painting. These Nguni people are very fierce warriors and large land owners. In the autumn of 1883, the Ndebele people went to war with the neighboring Boer farmers. The loss of the war brought on a harsh life and horrible punishments for the Ndebele. Through those hard times expressive symbols were generated by the suffering people expressing their grief. These symbols were the beginning of the African art known as Ndebele house paintings.
Piotr Kamler
Beginning in the 1960s, Polish-born animator Piotr Kamler created 10 films combining techniques of animation, stop-motion, and early CGI.
Diego Garcia
Diego Garcia is a tropical, footprint-shaped coral atoll located south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean. Several groups claim that the military base on Diego Garcia has been used by the U.S. government for transport of prisoners involved in the controversial extraordinary rendition program.
Carmine
Carmine is a pigment of a bright red color obtained from the carminic acid produced by some scale insects, such as the Polish cochineal, and is used as a general term for a particularly deep red color of the same name. Carmine is used in the manufacture of artificial flowers, paints, crimson ink, rouge, and other cosmetics, and is routinely added to food products such as yoghurt and certain brands of juice, most notably those of the ruby-red variety.
Julie d’Aubigny
Julie d'Aubigny was a 17th century swordswoman and opera singer. Her tumultuous career and flamboyant life were the subject of gossip and colorful stories in her own time, and inspired romances and novels afterwards. In the following years, d'Aubigny gathered a reputation as a wild woman who hit shopkeepers and fought duels with young aristocrats. She became involved with an assistant fencing master named Serannes. In about 1688, when lieutenant-general of the police Gabriel Nicolas de la Reynie tried to apprehend Serannes for killing a man in an illegal duel, the pair fled the city to Marseille. In Villeperdue she fought a victorious duel against three squires and drove her blade through the shoulder of one of them. Next day she asked for his health and found out he was Louis-Joseph d'Albert Luynes, son of the Duke of Luynes. Next evening one of his companions came to offer his apologies and she appeared in his room in female clothing. They became lovers.