A boon for public outreach (and great photos too)

Eight and a half years ago,  I spent four days at Villa La Pietra (NYU’s conference and study center in Florence), never leaving the grounds that entire period after I passed through the gates.  I felt as if I had stepped away from the present into some other time . The surreal images of early 20th century garments by Callot Souers discovered in a trunk in one of the rooms of the Villa not too long ago which accompany Jessamyn Hatcher’s essay, “Twenty-One Dresses” in the March 23, 2015 issue of The New Yorker brought back that feeling to me. However, it is the photos of damages to the garments caused by use,  inherent vice,  and poor storage conditions and the discussion of the garments’ conservation issues which thrill me. Right there in The New Yorker there is a sensitive, well thought out discussion of condition and conservation. What a boon for public outreach and education! And what wonderful images, too.