Framed by brick walls bearing hundreds of letters in honour of the King of Rock, a green door opens onto the last home of Freddie Mercury, the remarkably talented frontman of Queen. In 1985, the singer moved to this quiet street in Kensington and sumptuously decorated the rooms of this home that would host raucous parties and where the studio annex would host recording sessions late into the night. When, with his health deteriorating, the rock star withdrew from the public eye, he would spend more and more time in the intimacy of this home. Assisted, until his death by his ex-lover and best friend, Mary Austin, Mercury died in this house on November 24, 1991. He was cremated and his ashes were placed in a secret location, known only to Mary Austin. Following the last wishes of her friend, the woman, along with her family, still lives in Garden Lodge, surrounded by the furnishings that Freddie Mercury picked out himself. The building was built in 1908 for painter Cecil Rae who lived in the house with his wife and, before Mercury, it had numerous high-profile owners, including Peter Wilson, president of the auction house Sotheby’s.
Marie Antoinette: The Queen of Style Who Never Goes Out of Fashion
Featuring more than 250 works, from personal jewels and court dress to creations by Dior, Chanel and Vivienne Westwood, the show traces Marie Antoinette’s lasting impact on fashion, the decorative arts and visual culture.
At the National Gallery in London, a remarkable exhibition brings back into focus one of the most enigmatic figures of eighteenth-century British painting, George Stubbs, exploring his quiet revolution in the depiction of the horse, an animal that, for the artist, became far more than a symbol of status or aristocratic refinement.
The exhibition retraces the encounter between the Hawaiian Kingdom and Great Britain through journeys, symbols, and memories. Feather cloaks, sacred sculptures, and contemporary works come together to restore the voice of a people who crossed both the Pacific and history.
At London’s V&A, the exhibition Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art celebrates the visionary genius of Elsa Schiaparelli, pioneer of the dialogue between fashion and surrealism. From her iconic designs with Dalí to Daniel Roseberry’s sculptural creations, a journey through the boundless imagination of the century.
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