Art in unexpected places

Scurrying through the raindrops, in behind Green Park station on the way to Cork St and beyond, I glimpsed some little animal sculptures inside a shop, on a shelf high up - they were intriguing enough to get me into the intimidatingly smart shop, which turned out to be Paul Smith on Albermarle St. The "little horses" displayed high up were only some of the objets d'art on display (and for sale) along with  the clothes.

Rug designed by John Byrne, woven at Dovecote Studios (via)

A niche covered with dominos -- 26,000 of them

Close up (and colour corrected) ... rather like punched cards

There was furniture - chairs, desks, mirrors, notably a mirror edged with commemorative china - and a set of  cast glass paperweights that looked like a little village of houses - or gigantic boiled sweets. Can't believe I didn't take a photo of them... a snip at £899 the set (of 9 or 10).

Waiting to be hung

Closeup of the commemorative mugs

The "little horses" turned out to be strange creatures, some horse-like, made from terracotta or white clay by Friederich Nagler, who seems to have been constantly making all sorts of things throughout his life (1920-2009), but refused to exhibit them.But they were shown to the world last year, along with his paintings. From Austria, he had no formal art training, but had been interned in the "artists camp" on the Isle of Man after fleeing to England.

Metal sculptures by Nagler (via)

A terracotta horse and other creatures, and views of Nagler's home

Combining gorgeous objects with nice clothes in a smart shop is a great idea. There's a gallery downstairs but the next show was being installed ... I'll be dropping in again to see what's new in terms of art. 

More objets d'art

A new slant?

Seen from the street (unidentified artist)

(Reminds me of mending!)