Dodo Newman The Inspirationaliste
„Passion cannot be learned, cannot be faked or copied. It is something that burns like fire and if not kept alive it soon can burn out. The source of my Passion has always been Love, Love from people being inspired by what I create and what I give back to them.“ - Dodo Newman
„Dreamers never quit“ I was always a dreamer since the day I was born. I could stare in the long distance, lost in my dreams for long hours. I imagined for many years that I could grow wings whenever I wanted to and that I could be anywhere in a second if I thought of it hard. I dreamed of taking dreams to others and to make everyone happier. I stopped dreaming first when I was told to stop aspiring and desiring to become an artist and to start „living” up to „reality“. My favourite was the sentence: „You are living in a dreamworld, come down to earth“. I was a teenager then and had not much choice but to do as my father told me to. I conformed to his future picture of me of becoming a successful diplomat like him, and for fear of not being loved and loosing him, I gave up on my childhood dream, burying it deep down. I tried from time to time to break out, I even accepted the belief that dreaming is a bad thing, that I am not worthy of it and that it is just a „dream“. It was difficult for me to break out from such expectations and from the trap of believing that I am loved and appreciated only if I conform to how others want to see me. I held on to this pattern even long after my childhood. Nothing really satisfied me during these years, I felt a continuous dissatisfaction and unhappiness wherever I went and whatever I worked on. I believed for long that my natural state of going back to my dreams was a wrong thing to do, that dreaming is bad, that it will keep me stuck in achieving anything, that it will hold me back in finding my purpose and my state of happiness.
I chose art to change people and to make them see and feel things differently. I chose writing and speaking to make other people believe in their dreams again, to inspire them to dare to imagine again. I continuously innovate materials, views, beliefs to challenge the existing and to bring about change, proving that there is a huge richness of „otherness“ beyond our limitations when we step out and start to explore. As I slowly started to open my eyes and wake up to realise that my dreams are the underlying powerful engines to become myself again, I also began to see clearly. Dreams have become the opposite of reality in every day discussions, general beliefs and thoughts. In our fast paced world, full of distractions most people do not put much energy and time to their dreams. Having „no time“ for our dreams equals with: „my desires, my passion are worthless, trivial to even think of“. With the years passing by many people dry out of the colourful, joyful, playful Being who once held a dozen of dreams within. For most people their childhood dreams, beliefs and capability in creativity fades away with their age. In one of my favourite book „The Little Prince“ there is a quote that says:
„All grown-ups were once children... but only few of them remember it.“
„Dreamers never quit“ is my favourite quote from the movie of the life of Walt Disney, one of the biggest Dreamers of our times. However I often have the feeling that to say I am a dreamer means I never realise anything. Having dreams, taking care of them, building, imagining and envisioning them is what makes us who we are: all different with unique desires, wishes and thoughts. A dream will continuously change, just like the cells in our body, they uplift us and give us the passion to live for. Dreams belong to our own Selves, they are not there to be explained, to be judged. Our dreams that we envision, imagine and transform are part of the way we create our own life.
Artistic Expression Uniqueness comes hand in hand with my life path, with the circle of birth and death and with the time and patience that is dedicated to create something new, with the persistence to make a dream come true. Everything comes from passion, persistence and belief. My aim is to inspire people to stop for an instant and feel different for a moment in time, to make them immerse in their imagination, believing in their dreams. My passion comes from the burning desire towards discovering new things and new worlds. I transform my life travels into vivid sources of inspiration. I am inspired by the contrasts, the differences leading to the quest for beauty and harmony. Differences and contrasts give birth to new ideas and new creations. Each story is beautiful within itself. I create to bring forth timeless, magical and inspiring dreams. Beauty, perfection and continuous renewal to inspire and make others dream... All these together define my objective for innovation. My footprints originate from a unique vision that cannot be categorized or compared to others, they speak their own language. My place is outside the box. The impossible motivates me to make a difference and to be unique. Dreams do come true!
Major Achievements
SWAROVSKI Dodo is known for her close co-operation with Swarovski and her artistic invention using resin technique, which after eight years of experimentation is one of her legacies for the next generation. Swarovski crystal elements represent unique top quality crystal art at its best which is the perfect match for Dodo‘s resin art invention. With this exceptional method she brings the ultimate of luxury to the contemporary art scene. She has experimented with a unique technique that has become her trademark worldwide.
Dodo combines this technique with the future and the past, with the traditional and untraditional out of the box methods.
Princely jewelry-artwork A limited jewelry-artwork was designed for Her Serene Highness Princess Charlène of Monaco in 2012. The artwork is a diamond surfaced jewelry-artwork where all the colours, the reflections of the water and the purple shades were inspired by Her Serene Highness Princess Charlène.
„I remember when I saw the wedding with You and Prince Albert and I saw that very special moment in the old chapel when the tears covered Your eyes. It was a very emotional moment for all of us because it was the moment where everybody realized how deeply you were moved and how profound your Love for Albert is. And as you appeared in your amazing dress, it was like an Angel coming down to Earth. The simplicity was surrounded with a heart breaking feeling that day.“ - from the private mailings of Her Serene Highness Princess Charlène and Dodo Newman.
Courtesy of Ms. Celina Lafuente de Lavotha
Letter from Her Serene Highness Princess Charlène of Monaco to Dodo Newman.
The artwork was created to remember the precious moment of the Princely wedding. Besides the diamond surface there are also Swarovski crystal elements implemented in it, to remember Her Serene Highness Princess Charlène‘s Armani wedding dress. The artwork is a diptych, a two piece jewelry-artwork, both sides complementing each other. There is a special wave cut in the middle of the composition, representing the endless ocean. This is where the two pieces fit together, to live forever together in peace. The two complementary pieces fold together just as the „A“ and the „C“ in Her Serene Highness Princess Charlène and His Serene Highness Prince Albert II‘s dual cypher.
A peculiarity is that when Dodo started to create the jewelryartwork entitled „The Biggest Love Story“ as a commemoration for the Royal wedding and the forever bonding love of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II and his beloved wife Her Serene Highness Princess Charlène of Monaco, she was few months pregnant. This was an element that added to the inner beauty and the uniqueness of the artwork. Dodo‘s work was celebrated in many media later on as „the performance of priceless art transcendent value of the precious love“. It was selected into the TOP 100 Ultra Luxury trends in 2013, starting from the position of 71, rising to the 3rd position by 2015.
Detail from the jewelry-artwork, showing the Titanic coal surrounded by diamonds.
Invention of a new material Dodo is an accomplished artist, the inventor of her unique plexi-resin technique, as well as the new material the liquid crystallized resin. Her works are currently placed at the 3rd place among the World Ultra Luxury Trends (overtaking Chopard, Bentley, Rolls Royce, etc.), published in January 2014. The combination of Dodo‘s invention, the liquid resin and the various crystal elements paves the way for a new line of luxury and art.
„Being different and making a difference is what I thrive to achieve by creating artworks. My footprints originate from a unique vision that cannot be categorized or compared to others, they speak their own language. This is the reason why I invented the resin art technique, revolutionizing PlexiGlas art.“ - Dodo Newman
Innovation of a new material „I was very happy to paint and work freely but I wanted to start and find new ways in my art, new challenges. My way in life and in art has never been the same as what the majority does, my way has always been and is unique and special.“ In the years when Dodo‘s abstract and free expressive way of painting was developing, she experimented with a new technique with which she worked on PlexiGlas using resin and other materials. „It was a truly big challenge for me because I was working with a highly flammable material and in the beginning there were several times when my studio caught fire.“
The new technique brought all the expected results and high quality, new artworks were born. „I immensely love to work with this technique until this present day, since all artworks have two sides because of the PlexiGlas‘s unique material. These two sides play wonderful games with light. All the works give very different effects during daytime or during night. This is the technique that makes my art more playful and more free too.“ It is also a material which allows Dodo to add other interesting materials as well like crystal elements, diamonds and diamond powder, creating not only transparent but also sparkling and dazzling effects.
Selected into the Top 100 Ultra Luxury Trends Dodo is the inventor of her unique plexi-resin technique. One of her latest creation is currently placed at the 3rd place among the World Ultra Luxury Trends (overtaking Chopard, Bentley, Rolls Royce, etc.).
The Ultra Luxury Trend Report allows to have the foresight into what ultra luxury trends will be important to take into account for the next one to four years.
Hungary . India . Iran .
Italy . UK . France . Germany
Life of Dodo Newman
Communism. Dictatorship . India . Islam Materialism . Poverty . Spirituality . Tolerance
Life of Dodo Growing up in a diplomatic family the young Dodo travelled and lived all around the world seeing the contrasts of Communism, Dictatorship, India, Islam, Materialism, Poverty, Spirituality, Tolerance. She gained life experiences from one extreme to the other, which helped her later artistic expressions. Dodo Newman was born as Dorottya Novak in Hungary as a child of Ivan Peter Novak and Judit Bordacs Dalma. She was 2 years old when the family moved to India where Dodo started her early studies. Later her family moved to Iran where she went to the Italian School of Tehran, Iran (Scuola italiana „Pietro Della Valle“). Following this, Dodo finished her studies at the school of Polimoda in Firenze Italy, then at the American University of Rome in Italy and finally at the Reading University in Reading, UK. In 2004 Dodo Newman married Zsolt Szemerszky. They separated in 2009 and divorced in 2012. After finding new love in 2011, Dodo entered into a new relationship and in August 24th 2012 she gave birth to her daughter, Faye Martha Novak. Since 2008 Dodo is a German resident.
„The complexity of my life path made me what I am. Born into a diplomat family I know what it means to move, to adapt to different habits, cultures and climates. I lived in different cities of the world in India, Iran, Hungary, Italy, UK, US, France, Monaco and Germany, admiring and adopting to the cultural mix, experiencing different tastes and detecting the wonderful, endless colours of life.“ - Dodo Newman
Childhood in India Traveling and moving for Dodo are the most natural things in the world, since she has lived and studied in various countries around the world during her lifetime. She has been introduced into many cultural environments by her diplomat father, so she considers to own many homes and many native languages. Although she was born in Hungary the first pages of her memories are tied the most to India. She was only two years old when her parents got divorced and together with her father she moved to New Delhi, India.
„India's sensuous world has strong effects on me and its imprints can be seen even today in my taste and in my painting style.“ „As I always said India has a deep effect on the senses, it stirs up vibrating every single perception, and it does it in a multiple and unimaginable way. The colours enchant the eyes, the flavours and scents send us to another world. Even the air is colourful in India. The poorest person also wears colourful dresses and the food reflects colours as well. In addition to all these India is the home of love. It is the world of intense feelings where love, emotions and passion is an element of the every days.“ - Dodo Newman
„The strong colours, scents, materials, nature‘s wonderful vicinity and of course the ever present poverty. I experienced here the completeness of life in all the extreme ways: the spiritual freedom, the openness and the physical poverty.“ „I often played with the local children who ran with us barefoot and in ragged dresses. Life there is not easy but I have learned a lot from the experiences I had there. Today I know that it doesn‘t matter where someone comes from, what his or her colour of skin is, what language he or she speaks – what really matters is that all our feelings, aims are the same.“ „My imagination developed with the help of books and stories: Every child needs a story!“ - Dodo Newman
Maybe it seems unbelievable for those born into the modern world but Dodo grew up without TV, movies, electronics. The world of books and stories surrounded her each and every night and day, taking her always to a new land where she could fly on the wings of the imagination. Dodo really appreciates her childhood in India because as she states, this helped her to find her real path in life. Even if the family after India moved to the dictatorial Iran and then to communist Hungary, young Dodo always kept alive her dreams with the power of imagination, which she received in India through the stories. When Dodo was nine years old she and her parents went back to Hungary for a few years, years that meant a huge shock for her.
„When I was a child I felt apart from the world. Growing up as a white child in India I often dreamed by the seaside, I never really felt myself alone there. The most beautiful actor of my dreams was always the infinite Ocean. I also saw poverty first in India. As a child it was never strange for me to see poor children on the streets. I was even more astonished when later during my further stages of life, most people associated poverty with dirt and lack of hygiene. Poverty is not a good thing but as a child I understood and accepted it easily, because I saw the inner beauty in my surroundings and in people. I played the same with the local children without any prejudice. We lived in a house circled by a park but I always looked for the company of the local children. As a child I learned to live without any ties, freely.“ - Dodo Newman
„In India I went to English speaking International schools where most of the classes were taken outside in the surrounding gardens, also because it was quite hot. In the afternoons there were no home works to be done, even the books were left at school. I had classmates from different nationalities, where everyone thought it natural that children with different types of backgrounds and skin were studying together without any kind of barrier. I used to love to go to school, perhaps this was the reason for the shock that I experienced in Hungary.“ „Although I had blonde hair I did not understand why my classmates in Hungary made fun of me, calling me Indian when they got to know where I lived before. Moreover in the first two years of school I continuously almost failed, since I hardly even knew how to write in Hungarian. Every second afternoon I had to go to separate teachers. I was always scared to go to school where I had to take oral and written exams - since in India all of these things were unknown.“ - Dodo Newman
Dodo did not realise that her life would be completely transformed by the dreams and colours of India. She grew up without the frills of modernity or the associated gadgetry and this helped develop her sensibility towards feelings, emotions. Books and stories inspired her and took her to new lands. The power of inner freedom she received in India has accompanied Dodo all through her artistic as well as her life path.
Growing up in Iran In a few years time Dodo‘s family traveled to another country, to Iran and they had to familiarize again with this new environment and culture. Islamic culture had effects on Dodo's painting. She learned to use pastels in her drawings from an Iranian artist and in the summer vacations she went to Paris to artistic schools to develop her skills. The closed environment of Iran gave Dodo the opportunity to discover her inner side and to explore her artistic Soul. She spent many hours and evenings in her room dreaming, drawing, sketching and visualizing her future of changes and expansion. In Iran there were no English or American schools because of the political environment. So Dodo had to choose whether to go to an Italian or German high school. She chose the Italian school, this way she acquired the knowledge of a new language and culture. This helped her when, a few years later she managed to easily enter a well-known Italian fashion design school.
„Iran and the Arab countries are all considered the same by the media, even though the situation of women in Iran is not as bad as it is depicted. It is true that all women have to cover their hair with scarves and everyone lives behind walls. Women have very fashionable clothes and are neat under their covers and they travel quite a lot. They also can study freely, many of them become architects, doctors, teachers. It is however hard for young couples to get used to not being able to hold hands in the streets, as well as girls and boys cannot have parties together. It was quite weird that men and women were separated not only in the swimming pools but also on the ski slopes.“ „I loved Paris, the exciting life, the world of galleries, the openness of the people and their hunger for culture. My stay in Paris had such an influence on me that I decided to become a fashion designer.“ - Dodo Newman
Opening up: Italy „When I started to study in Florence, Italy I felt myself in Heaven! But I was naive and I didn‘t fully grasp what I undertook. I was convinced fashion design is only about drawing, even though reality is very far from this! Perhaps Ralph Lauren is famous enough to just draw but we students at the school had to sow and tailor, which never really interested me. I decided to move to Rome. I wanted to study art, painting there but my parents decided that they would only pay for my studies if I chose something more practical and useful. I had not much choice. My family remained in Iran and I was in Europe alone. So I entered the American University where I graduated in international relations. There were various nationalities and cultures at the university just as I was used to during my childhood.“ - Dodo Newman
Whenever Dodo had some time off she roamed around the streets of Rome, she embraced the ever so nearness of Italian art and she tried to save all that she saw in the city‘s beauty on paper. Rome was a city important for many other reasons as well. It was the city where Dodo started first to experience living by herself, being free and discovering her hidden desires, making visions of them.
Way to become a real artist After many traveling and seeing the world, Dodo returned to the land where she was born, to Hungary to continue the search of her path. Unfortunately the positive open attitude did not meet an appropriate reception, so Dodo could not find her path there, just as she was not sure her aims could be realized there.
„I had a thought that Berlin is a tolerant, open and free city and also it is to become the centre of art in Europe. So I thought this city might keep some surprises and new inspirations for me.“
With her heart full of hope Dodo packed up her backpack to head towards West Europe. She had the aim in her mind to work and co-operate with international art galleries. She decided to choose for a destination Berlin, Germany where she chose to realize her art studio to make her art. However not everything was white and black, and there were some very difficult moments and periods to be faced in Berlin too.
- Dodo Newman
It was the year of 2008 when this new city of Berlin appeared in Dodo‘s life.
„For me the process of marketing, sales of my art represented always a difficulty, just as for all artists. Fortunately I had the best persons around me who helped me in this, although I fought my life‘s most serious battles in Berlin. I had to learn that there are walls that only I am capable of breaking down, that there are aims that only I can reach from the core of my true Being.“ - Dodo Newman
It seemed to be difficult to co-operate with art galleries even after many gallery and studio visits. The open-mindedness that is necessary for Dodo‘s works was missing from the part of galleries. Dodo decided to change perspective and philosophy: to materialize her dreams and visions independently and freely, not depending on others‘ views and opinions. She knew this choice was a much more difficult path but she also trusted her inner intuition and the reactions she received. The persistence soon saw its first fruits and there was no need to wait for long to see some more fruits. The point of change arrived like an express train and demonstrated the reality that Dodo felt deep in her heart. The change came during one of Dodo‘s open day in her art studio, when a big quantity of her artworks was bought at once. A very new universe opened up in front of Dodo, the universe of possibilities. She felt that the day has come to consider and manage her art and the world in a very different way. This was the first time that Dodo achieved a huge step in her artistic vision solely by her belief in her own dreams. She realized for the first time how powerful the dreams are and how, with our own imagination, our own strength of will, we are able to fully realize these dreams. This also represented a change in her artistic expression because she started to dare to dream even bigger dreams. A very new universe opened up in front of her where she was able to direct her own energies to follow her path of life purpose, full of passion, dreams, inspiration, innovation and creativity.
Selected artworks
Finding abstract series Period: 2007-2008
Art review First in the world of India, then in Iran and later in the world of Italian fashion design Dodo was „thrown“ into the sea of visual waves. By making the right choices she managed to reach the shore. „Leave the why behind.“ (Osho) „When people get to know the beautiful, the ugly emerges and when they get to know the good the bad emerges as well.“ (Lao-ce) The art of Dodo can be understood first from the Eastern meditations, however the intuitive world of her surfaces shows European roots. Her lyrical abstract expressionism was born from the secrets brought from the Far East and the Middle East. „Existence and non-existence give birth to each other, heavy and light have created each other, high and deep are linked to each other, several sounds fuse into each other and previous and subsequent follow each other.“ (Lao-ce) Our dreams and life paths are about our possibilities. Dodo talks about these through her artworks. The colours talk the most beautifully about the possibilities. The colours riot in the feelings of the eternal earthly cycle of nature. The metal cosmic gold and silver with the stardust transport us to a transcendental world. Man is just a microscopic particle within the huge tectonic cosmic processes. What can provide shelter in this situation? Enlightenment!
Meditative absorption in the works of Dodo gives a chance for our spiritual liberation. The works‘ intellectuality is perhaps the personal message of Zarathustra – Buddha – Nietzsche – Zen for the God seeking man. Dodo is not the experimenting painter of the XXIst century – she is more than that! She is the lyrical, philosophical voice of the postmodern, transavantgarde world, who disposes a special susceptibility for visualizing internal, virtual worlds for creating feminine forms of beauties. The existential view of her childhood medium, assigned by fate to her is strength in her self-expressing visual system since it was born from the interlocking of the East and the West. written by Zoltán Fejér art curator
„Dodo Newman is a very unique and rare contemporary artist. She expresses her artistic passion through conventional painting hinting on Synthetic Cubism to postmodern experiments with glass, gold and textures. She is a master of colour, inception and dreams. A smart investor should consider Dodo’s works as part of their investment portfolio.“ - Dr. Greg Nazvanov CEO | MBA | Wealth Management at INKOM (Australia)
Siddharta Acrylic, glitter powder and oil on canvas 70 cm x 100 cm (27.6 inch x 39.4 inch) 2007 Privately owned in Germany
Racing life on Earth Acrylic and oil on canvas 70 cm x 100 cm (27.6 inch x 39.4 inch) 2007 Privately owned in Hungary
Teardrops from Heaven Acrylic and oil on canvas 70 cm x 100 cm (27.6 inch x 39.4 inch) 2007 Privately owned in The Principality of Monaco
Life‘s wheel of fortune Acrylic and oil on canvas 100 cm x 70 cm (39.4 inch x 27.6 inch) 2007
Immortality Acrylic and oil on canvas 70 cm x 100 cm (27.6 inch x 39.4 inch) 2007 Privately owned in Belgium
Celebrating Birth Acrylic and oil on canvas 70 cm x 100 cm (27.6 inch x 39.4 inch) 2007 Privately owned in Germany
Dream of a Woman Acrylic and charcoal on canvas 70 cm x 100 cm (27.6 inch x 39.4 inch) 2007 Privately owned in Hungary
Fertility Acrylic and oil on canvas 70 cm x 100 cm (27.6 inch x 39.4 inch) 2007 Privately owned in Germany
In the arms of an Angel Acrylic, glitter powder and oil on canvas 70 cm x 100 cm (27.6 inch x 39.4 inch) 2007 Privately owned in Italy
I swam deep in sea Acrylic and oil on canvas 100 cm x 70 cm (39.4 inch x 27.6 inch) 2007
Changing moments Acrylic and oil on canvas 70 cm x 100 cm (27.6 inch x 39.4 inch) 2007
Due of dawn Acrylic, glitter powder and oil on canvas 70 cm x 100 cm (27.6 inch x 39.4 inch) 2007
Floating Acrylic and oil on canvas 100 cm x 70 cm (39.4 inch x 27.6 inch) 2007 Privately owned in France
Magic carpet Acrylic and oil on canvas 70 cm x 100 cm (27.6 inch x 39.4 inch) 2007 Privately owned in Belgium
Far in another Galaxy Acrylic, glitter powder and oil on canvas 70 cm x 100 cm (27.6 inch x 39.4 inch) 2007 Privately owned in France
Simphony Acrylic and oil on canvas Dyptich, 70 cm x 100 cm each (27.6 inch x 39.4 inch) 2007 Privately owned in Switzerland
Storm in China Acrylic and charcoal on canvas 70 cm x 100 cm (27.6 inch x 39.4 inch) 2007 Privately owned in Belgium
Life forms I. Acrylic and oil on canvas 70 cm x 100 cm (27.6 inch x 39.4 inch) 2007 Privately owned in Switzerland
View from Space Acrylic on canvas 80 cm x 60 cm (31.5 inch x 23.6 inch) 2007
Heaven and Hell Acrylic and oil on canvas 70 cm x 100 cm (27.6 inch x 39.4 inch) 2007 Privately owned in Germany
Flower garden veiled by an aura Acrylic and oil on canvas 70 cm x 100 cm (27.6 inch x 39.4 inch) 2007 Privately owned in Germany
„There are some similarities in the works of Damien Hirst and Dodo Newman. Her work doesn‘t sell for as much as that of Damien Hirst, but I think it could one day. She seems to have embraced the internet and social media, so there is lots online about her work.“ - Michael J. Maynard art blogger
Art review „The Spirit does not forget“. (Eva Ancsel) The eternal time, the time dimension lives further on in our Beings. Dodo brings with herself her own cosmic clouds. She received her artistic energies to win over the world‘s reacting forces. Dodo honestly believes in a self-creating way in the goodness, love of all people. Her empathy made her develop early in her age into a distinct artist. It is a major factor that she has been able to distance herself from the ordinary conventions of our days, into the trap that many contemporary artists fall and suffer. But Dodo is an absolutely creative, bold and deliberate artist. Her style has a unifying creator character. It is obvious and glows from her visual world and material handling that she loves to create freely and so her visual treasures are fresh, fascinating, unified. The transavantgarde, lyrical cosmic abstracts, visual carriers are elegant and aesthetic in a very uncommon way. Dodo‘s integrated space illusions express in their totality the reflections of today‘s impersonal (global) man, his loneliness within the cyclical process of birth and death. It implies to the „here and now“ moment that the Soul cannot get rid of the Body‘s stranglehold.
How can visual experiences be given today to visually supercharged art fans? „Yes, I said to the small prince, - whether it is about a house or about the stars: what makes them beautiful is the invisible.“ (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) In Dodo‘s works Life with its countless veins enters symbolically into the textures of the Universe. They approach our hopes through the ruptures into the endless daze. The abundance of the metaforms lives together in the world plasma through the pulsation of linkages and separations. The movement forms of the surfaces are beautiful with a chilling calmness. Dante‘s Hell, Purgatory, Heaven in the everlasting of birth and death. „The perception of matter is the splendour of thought.“ (Massimo Scaligero) The cosmic order is not just an endless chaos. We define our existence, our will from our interior universe. Dodo manages the materials with elegancy, respecting their spiritual characters. The amorphous supernatural forces of her works help us understand our roles on Earth. written by Zoltán Fejér art curator
Selected artworks
Finding the inner voice series Period: 2008-2009
Cause and effect I. Acrylic and oil on canvas Diptych, 110 cm x 110 cm each (43.3 inch x 43.3 inch) 2009 Privately owned in France
Cause and effect II. Acrylic and oil on canvas Triptych, 100 cm x 120 cm each (39.4 inch x 47.3 inch) 2009 Privately owned in France
Cause and effect III. Acrylic and oil on canvas 120 cm x 100 cm (47.3 inch x 39.4 inch) 2009
Cause and effect IV. Acrylic and oil on canvas Diptych, 100 cm x 120 cm each (39.4 inch x 47.3 inch) 2009 Privately owned in France
When a star dies I. Acrylic and oil on canvas Diptych, 110 cm x 110 cm each (43.3 inch x 43.3 inch) 2009 Privately owned in Switzerland
When a star dies II. Acrylic, golden powder and oil on canvas Triptych, 80 cm x 100 cm each (31.5 inch x 39.4 inch) 2009
Sonata I. Acrylic, golden powder and oil on canvas Diptych, 40 cm x 120 cm each (15.8 inch x 47.3 inch) 2008 Privately owned
Sonata II. Acrylic, golden powder and oil on canvas Diptych, 40 cm x 120 cm each (15.8 inch x 47.3 inch) 2008 Privately owned in India
Prayer I. Acrylic, oil, golden and glitter powder on canvas Tetraptych, 30 cm x 100 cm each (11.9 inch x 39.4 inch) 2008 Privately owned in Germany
Prayer II. Acrylic, oil, golden and glitter powder on canvas 80 cm x 120 cm (31.5 inch x 47.3 inch) 2008 Privately owned in U.S.A.
Prayer III. Acrylic, golden powder and oil on canvas Diptych, 80 cm x 120 cm each (31.5 inch x 47.3 inch) 2008 Privately owned in Germany
Hidden away I. Acrylic, golden powder, paper and oil on canvas Diptych, 80 cm x 120 cm each (31.5 inch x 47.3 inch) 2009 Privately owned in Germany
Hidden away II. Acrylic and oil on canvas Diptych, 100 cm x 120 cm each (39.4 inch x 47.3 inch) 2009 Privately owned in Germany
Kill Bill I. Acrylic, charcoal, golden powder and oil on canvas Tetraptych, 60 cm x 80 cm each (23.6 inch x 31.5 inch) 2009
Gold and Pearl shower Acrylic, golden powder and oil on canvas 120 cm x 80 cm (47.2 inch x 31.5 inch) 2009 Privately owned in Germany
Love Acrylic, golden powder and oil on canvas 100 cm x 120 cm (39.4 inch x 47.2 inch) 2008 Privately owned in Ireland
Freedom Acrylic, golden powder and oil on canvas 150 cm x 100 cm (59 inch x 39.4 inch) 2008 Privately owned in Belgium
Yin and Yang Acrylic, golden powder, paper and oil on canvas Diptych, 50 cm x 150 cm each (19.7 inch x 59 inch) 2009 Privately owned in Switzerland
Rebirth of the Phoenix Acrylic, golden powder and oil on canvas Triptych, 80 cm x 120 cm each (31.5 inch x 47.3 inch) 2009 Privately owned in Germany
Missing season Acrylic and oil on canvas Triptych, 60 cm x 80 cm each (23.6 inch x 31.5 inch) 2008 Privately owned in Spain
Song of Krishna Acrylic and oil on canvas Diptych, 80 cm x 120 cm each (31.5 inch x 47.3 inch) 2008 Privately owned in Germany
Torn apart but together Acrylic, glitter powder and oil on canvas Triptych, 80 cm x 100 cm each (31.5 inch x 39.4 inch) 2008 Privately owned in Belgium
A vision Acrylic, golden powder and oil on canvas Diptych, 140 cm x 80 cm each (55.1 inch x 31.5 inch) 2008 Privately owned in Switzerland
World of desire, form and formless Acrylic, golden powder and oil on canvas Triptych, 50 cm x 150 cm each (19.7 inch x 59 inch) 2008 Privately owned in Spain
Selected artworks
Energies series Period: 2008-2009
Energies I. Acrylic and ink on canvas 150 cm x 50 cm (59 inch x 19.7 inch) 2009
Energies II. Acrylic and ink on canvas Diptych, 150 cm x 50 cm each (59 inch x 19.7 inch) 2009 Privately owned in Germany
Energies V. Acrylic and ink on canvas 140 cm x 55 cm (55 inch x 21.6 inch) 2009
Energies VI. Acrylic and ink on canvas 155 cm x 64 cm (61 inch x 25.2 inch) 2009
Energies VII. Acrylic and ink on canvas 155 cm x 74 cm (61 inch x 29.1 inch) 2009
Energies VIII. Acrylic and ink on canvas 210 cm x 74 cm (82.7 inch x 29.1 inch) 2009
Selected artworks
Red Cross for Haiti series
Period: 2010
Red Cross Auction for Haiti, Cannes Film Festival „I have given to many people, whether they were individuals with specific needs, organizations that I could help, businesses that I supported, causes that I believed in and contributed to. I had to break down various and many walls to make believe people that help can be genuine and not only about money. We all have different tools by which we can help others in need, let it be our own energies or other ways.“ - Dodo Newman
Dodo supported various aims and charities. One of her biggest donation was in 2010 during the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, where all the income of her art auction went to support the reconstruction of Haiti. The Red Cross auction for the Reconstruction of Haiti was held during the 63rd Cannes Film Festival on May 21st 2010 in an exclusive environment, atmosphere and with illustrious guests.
Sheikh Abdallah Shamsaldeen Al-Fassi with Dodo Newman
A number of prominent players of business were represented during the intimate dinner of several courses, such as the patron of the evening Sheikh Abdallah Shamsaldeen Al-Fassi or Michael J. Saylor, Bill Dean, Shawn Sabharwal, Viviane Reziciner, Sophie Tuffnell or Kenneth Johnson. The art auction held during the dinner was led by the famous French master of auction Pierre Cornette de Saint Cyr, who presented the artworks of Dodo. Dodo offered the entire revenue of the auction to Red Cross France, for the cause of the reconstruction of Haiti.
Dr. Laura Vovan, Michael J. Saylor (co-founder of MicroStrategy) with Dodo Newman
Dodo Newman with French art collector Viviane-Lucie Reziciner and her partner Franรงois
Zsolt Szemerszky (author & art investor), Dodo Newman, Julie Garlenq (Red Cross), Pierre Cornette de Saint Cyr (auctioneer)
itiaH Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 200 cm x 100 cm (78.7 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in Switzerland
Saint-Marc Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 200 cm x 100 cm (78.7 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in Switzerland
Fort LibertĂŠ Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 200 cm x 100 cm (78.7 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in Switzerland
Marmelade Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 200 cm x 100 cm (78.7 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in Switzerland
Port-au-Prince Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 200 cm x 100 cm (78.7 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in UK
Carrefour Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 200 cm x 100 cm (78.7 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in France
Delmas Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 200 cm x 100 cm (78.7 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in Switzerland
Cap-haitien Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 100 cm x 100 cm (39.3 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in France
Gonaives Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder and LED light technique on PlexiGlas 100 cm x 100 cm (39.3 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in France
Petionville Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 100 cm x 100 cm (39.3 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in France
Les Cayes Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 100 cm x 100 cm (39.3 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in France
Verrettes Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 100 cm x 100 cm (39.3 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in UK
Petit Goave Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 100 cm x 100 cm (39.3 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in Switzerland
Hinche Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 100 cm x 100 cm (39.3 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in France
Jeremie Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 100 cm x 100 cm (39.3 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in France
Limbe Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 100 cm x 100 cm (39.3 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in Switzerland
Jacmel Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 100 cm x 100 cm (39.3 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in UK
Port-de-Paix Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 100 cm x 100 cm (39.3 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in France
Milot Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 100 cm x 100 cm (39.3 inch x 39.3 inch) 2010 Privately owned in France
Haiti Resin, pigment powder, glitter powder on PlexiGlas 100 cm x 200 cm (39.3 inch x 78.7 inch) 2010 Privately owned in France
Selected artworks
100th Anniversary of the Titanic Cultural Commemorative Project
Period: 2009-2014
Titanic: Living on for more than 100 years The perfect example of Dodo combining the past with the future was her 100th Anniversary of the Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia project using the very best elements of Swarovski. It included limited collectible items inspired by the most fascinating human stories of the legendary Titanic ship. The project she already initiated back in 2009, focused on the 100th Anniversary of the sinking, the same year when Dodo‘s Holocaust survivor grandmother was expected to be 100 years old. Dodo‘s grandmother Marta was also born in 1912, the same year when the Titanic found its final place in the ocean. Marta spent 100 years on our Planet and she was the one who taught her granddaughter to never give up her dreams and to fight until the very end for her goals. Growing up with this important teaching from her grandmother, Dodo‘s commemorative items focus on the human values, the people behind the legendary ship, on the emotions and on the personal life paths and destinies.
Dodo‘s grandmother Marta (1912-2011)
„My grandmother is a great survivor of war and Holocaust and she is one of my biggest hero.“ - remembers Dodo - „I learnt a lot from her. I believe we can all learn from people who survived the time with pride and honour just as the brave passengers of the Titanic.“ - Dodo Newman
„All the passengers had hope when they stepped over the stairs of the Titanic. A hope that lives within each of us even today.“ - Dodo Newman
The Titanic ship was an incredible place, which brought together many cultures from various parts of the world, mainly in the name of hope and new life. During Dodo‘s research works she discovered fascinating human stories among the Titanic passengers related to over 43 nations. For this reason the Titanic Cultural Commemorative Project also contained an interesting cultural aspect, the introduction of the various cultural development of the different nations of the passengers. During the project multiple nations came together to share their cultural history and roots linked to Dodo‘s crystal creations. „History overtakes the Future“ as Dodo labeled the project, for which she also combined SWAROVSKI elements as well as LED lightening. Combining SWAROVSKI elements Dodo managed to bring ultimate luxury into contemporary art.
„I have always been looking for the unique things in my whole Life. The magic of the past and its mystical essence has always attracted me, I found it fantastic to be able to immerse ourselves in our history and past and to allow ourselves to be part of it. All creations made by Man whether they were huge, tiny artworks or objects have proved that there are eminent achievements independent of the different centuries that are worth remembering, respecting or admiring.
When I was a child I felt apart from the world. Growing up as a white child in India I often dreamed by the seaside, I never really felt myself alone there. The most beautiful actor of my dreams was always the infinite ocean. I would watch the huge waves for hours, smell the salty air or just gaze at the ships and boats disappearing on the horizon. The ocean meant for me freedom and the eternal space for opportunities. Perhaps this is why I am traveling so much even today, to explore eternity, the new, to find what inspires me and by which I am able to inspire others as well. My Soul is eternal and free.
Workers leaving the shipyard at Queens Road in early 1911. The RMS Titanic can be seen in the background, underneath the Arrol Gantry.
Whenever I feel a bit sad or I just want to hide for a while to a safe place from the everyday happenings, I only need to close my eyes and I am a child again. I am sitting beside the ocean on the sand and the wind and the steamy, salty air blows through my hair. These thoughts, dreams help me always to forget, as well as fill me up with renewed energy, giving me stability. Most people have dreams but many do not take steps toward them. Sometimes I also feel it is very difficult to reach them but I endure to the very end of the path. I know deep inside that if I would give up my dream I would get lost and my life would be purposeless.
In moments of weakness I grab onto this glimpse of memory in my past and I know that nothing is impossible by riding the waves of the sea. There is always new hope behind the horizon no matter how high those waves are.“ - Dodo Newman
The Titanic docked in Belfast, February 1912. It underwent sea trials before setting sail from England to New York in April.
On April 10th 1912 the legendary ship Titanic started off to the wide ocean with huge hopes as a proud example of a creation of Humanity. The journey ended tragically, 706 passengers survived the clash of April 14th 1912, their lives changed drastically after this event. This moment in history proves that any aim, dream is possible, any creation can be realized, however it is not possible to challenge nature’s power. Dodo’s extraordinary Titanic Commemorative project, which started from the vision in 2009, was an art initiative marking this centenary. Dodo’s creative work highlights the human aspect of the tragedy – the 2,240 passengers and crew, 1,517 of whom perished. It conjures a poignant image of people boarding the Titanic full of hopes and dreams, unaware that they were destined to share a tragedy of unimaginable magnitude. They came from every walk of life: personnel from the ship; the rich and famous (American millionaires Benjamin Guggenheim, Isidor Straus and John Astor all drowned); professionals; the poor, seeking a new life. Friends, families and strangers alike, they were to be linked in collective memory forever. Using her own special technique, Dodo‘s Commemorative Titanic Memorabilia depict the emotions that the survivors experienced. Fragments of glittering diamonds, semi-precious stones and brilliantly glinting SWAROVSKI elements represent icebergs, which she applied to transparent PlexiGlas. The surface effect was magical: liquid crystal against a background of swirling oceanic blues, reflecting the play of light on icy water – shockingly beautiful and quite simply, unique.
The Titanic Memorabilia Collection offers a unique opportunity to own a part of history and enrich our human heritage: dedicated to the memory of the passengers, it touches our hearts today, 100 years after the worst maritime disaster in peace-time history. These rare and ultra limited masterpieces are handcrafted and all of them include a Certificate of Authenticity. Each one of them is limited among the different nations of the world, representing a rare piece in itself as well as a valuable element for our future. HSH Princess Charlène of Monaco owns as well a Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia (Nr. 153), falling in love with the unique resin compositions experimented by the Inspirationaliste. The Titanic memorabilia are ultra-luxury products, creations for more than a life time that will remain always unmatched and rare. This secured by the legendary passengers themselves, the people who lived and who had a real story. The boxer, the mayor, the loving couple, the banker, the rich socialite, they all give us a piece of story, an emotion to remember forever.
„I stand in front of all the people who were present in those historical moments with deep and pure respect. No matter how difficult it was to accept the course of this destiny, the Titanic has no doubt given something new to Humanity.“ - Dodo Newman
Titanic at Southampton docks, prior to departure
Characteristic of the Memorabilia The limited range of Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia is a one and only piece of handcrafted „jewelry“ (sculptural painting), created by Dodo. Each Titanic memorabilia commemorates an individual personal story, therefore each one of them is unique in itself. The memorabilia is made on transparent PlexiGlas surface (100 cm x 50 cm) with Dodo‘s invented resin technique. The see-through PlexiGlas also offers a unique play with lights for the SWAROVSKI elements, implemented into each memorabilia. The surface is a beautiful play of light and shadow.
Since the surface is made on PlexiGlas it has two completely different impression on each side. The front side of the memorabilia depicts the „above water“ feeling with cold and frozen feelings, while the back side of the memorabilia presents the „under water“ feeling, a view from a passenger under the icy water. It is fascinating to stand in the back side to see as the light plays with the SWAROVSKI crystal elements, giving back the feeling as the moonlight approaches the deep water, just as it might have happened during the night of the disaster. All Titanic memorabilia have a special holographic and numbered sign on the right bottom corner linked to the selected passenger. The holographic sign appears on the Certificate of Authenticity as well, which was made by a Treasury print on unreproducible paper.
Certificate of Authenticity for the Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia.
Passengers of the Titanic The Titanic passenger list ranged from the richest people in the world to the poorest, setting out to make a new life in America. It is perhaps the range of people on board with a wide range of reasons for travel which makes the ship's story so fascinating. The class system, which existed at the time ensured that these different social classes never met nor mixed while on board, except perhaps during the very last minutes of the Titanic's lifetime. The passenger list of the Titanic included some of the most prestigious figures of its time. Many businessmen, industrialists and manufacturers of the Titanic were aboard during that fateful day of April 14th 1912. The majority of first class passengers were well known in their countries of origin and some were even known worldwide.
People walking on the deck of the Titanic. Courtesy of Denver Post Archives
The majority of the Titanic passengers were in the steerage. Most of them crossed the ocean to begin a new life in America. They sold everything they had and took with themselves only their prized possessions. The third class passengers were thought little of and did not get any of the luxuries that the first class passengers were given. However they were given additional luxuries compared to other ships. Third class passengers had an open air gathering area, the poop deck or the stern of the ship. They were not allowed to mingle with the first and second classes. Social classes were kept very strong at that time, there were barriers that kept them in that area and these barriers proved to be fatal for them, forcing them to be trapped in their area.
Of the total 2,223 passengers (2,240 including the cross-channel passengers) aboard the Titanic only 706 survived the disaster. Most of the Titanic passengers who died did so from the cold. The water temperature was at around freezing point or just below. In such water temperatures a person can die in as little as 15 minutes to at most an hour. Others died from falling objects especially when the stern rose high in the air, the forward funnel broke off and fell in the water and eventually when the ship broke in two and the stern fell with great power on the water. Many undoubtedly drowned.
Incredible life stories
100th Anniversary of the Titanic Cultural Commemorative Project
Period: 2009-2012
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 2043 dedicated to Mr. Cerin Balkic. One and only piece of handcrafted „jewelry�, created by Dodo Newman, the Inspirationaliste. All Titanic Memorabilia have a special holographic and numbered sign on the right bottom corner.
Size: Year: Art category: Base: Materials:
100 cm x 50 cm 2012 Sculptural painting See through PlexiGlas surface Natural Pigments, SWAROVSKI crystal elements, transparent liquid Crystal Resin
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mr. Cerin Balkic
Mr. Cerin Balkic was born in 1986 in Batic, Bosnia. He was a 26 years old general labourer when he boarded the Titanic on Wednesday 10th April 1912 in Southampton. The married Balkic travelled as a 3rd class passenger and he bought his ticket through Viktor Klaus-Wildi Titanic ticket agent. He was travelling to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania but he could not make it. He found his final peace in the deep ocean during the night of April 15th 1912. His body was never recovered.
RMS Titanic leaving Belfast for her sea trials on 2 April 1912
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 2043 dedicated to Mr. Cerin Balkic. Back side of the Memorabilia.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 2107 dedicated to Mr. Servando José Florentino Oviés y Rodríguez. One and only piece of handcrafted „jewelry”, created by Dodo Newman, the Inspirationaliste. All Titanic Memorabilia have a special holographic and numbered sign on the right bottom corner.
Size: Year: Art category: Base: Materials:
100 cm x 50 cm 2012 Sculptural painting See through PlexiGlas surface Natural Pigments, SWAROVSKI crystal elements, transparent liquid Crystal Resin
Cuba
Mr. Servando José Florentino Oviés y Rodríguez Mr. Servando Jose Florentino Oviés y Rodriguez was born on February 21st 1876 in Aviles, Northern Spain. He was the son of Ramon Oviés and Maria del Carmen Rodríguez. In 1912 he was living in Havana with his wife Eva Lopez del Vallardo. The couple had one son named Ramon Servando. Servando Jose Florentino Oviés y Rodriguez worked in the import business as a merchant for a family firm called Rodriguez & Co. He was 36 years old when he boarded the Titanic. He first embarked on Wednesday, April 10th 1912 in Cherbourg as a first class passenger. Unfortunately Servando José Florentino Oviés y Rodríguez died in the disaster. His body was later recovered by the MacKay Bennett and it was labelled as body #189. During the tragedy he wore blue serge pants, a grey shirt marked as “J. R.” and a black coat and vest. In the beginning the body was thought to be the body of a 28 years old sailor. His body was buried at Fairview Cemetery in Halifax on May 3rd 1912. Eventually his body was identified by J. A. Rodriguez, his employer of Havana, Rodriguez & Co. After the identification his body was exhumed and reburied on May 15th 1912 in the Catholic Mount Olivet Cemetery. After his death his wife Eva filed a claim for $75,000 for the loss of his life and further $2800 for the loss of property.
RMS Titanic departing Southampton on 10 April 1912
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 2107 dedicated to Mr. Servando José Florentino Oviés y Rodríguez. Back side of the Memorabilia.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 9 dedicated to Miss Carla Christine Nielsine Andersen-Jensen. One and only piece of handcrafted „jewelry�, created by Dodo Newman, the Inspirationaliste. All Titanic Memorabilia have a special holographic and numbered sign on the right bottom corner.
Size: Year: Art category: Base: Materials:
100 cm x 50 cm 2012 Sculptural painting See through PlexiGlas surface Natural Pigments, SWAROVSKI crystal elements, transparent liquid Crystal Resin
Denmark
Miss Carla Christine Nielsine Andersen-Jensen Miss Carla Christine Nielsine Anderson-Jensen was born on February 13th 1893 in Denmark. She worked as a maid in Eskildstrup, Pederstrup, Odense, Denmark where her father, Christian Jensen was a butcher. Carla Jensen was 19 years old when she got permission from her parents to go and settle in America. Carla travelled to America with her fiancé Hans Peder Jensen, her brother Svend Lauritz Jensen and her uncle Niels Peder Jensen. The group of family traveled via Esbjerg and London to Southampton, where they boarded the Titanic on Wednesday April 10th 1912. Carla shared her cabin with three other young girls, two English and one Swedish girl. Evrey 3rd class passenger had to be below deck before 10 pm and so on the day of the sinking they turned to they room early. Right after half an hour of their return they felt a bump, however they went back to sleep.
„We had confidence in the Titanic, the other 3 girls would never wake again!“ „At 12.30 I heard a knock and my uncle said: You better put a coat on and come up on the deck... so I put a coat over my night dress.“ „We were up on the deck and there was not much commotion, we had hit an iceberg but everyone felt the ship would stay afloat. The ship was fully lit and there was music in the 1st class saloon. There was no panic even when the lifeboats were launched, no one seemed to be pushed to get into them and the women and children went into the boats first.“ - as Carla remembered
„With fright we heard an incredible crash and it was as if a scream from 1000 voices came from the lit giant ship, when it broke in two and both parts rose into the sky and sank.“ „We sat like stone figures and saw it all happen. What was even worse than the screams was the deadly silence that came after...it was frightful.“ - as Carla remembered
Carla was placed probably in lifeboat 16, as were most rescued 3rd class passengers. Lifeboat 16 was one of the very last lifeboats. She later recalled that while she entered a boat the men were making jokes with her saying that she might reach New York faster than the others that way. When the boat was lowered the uncle said „now you can wait there until we come“. As Carla remembered lifeboat 16 was rowed by 6 crew members. When they got rowed away from the Titanic the orchestra was still playing. The ocean was quiet and the surface like a mirror. They were surrounded by other lifeboats and they saw lots of icebergs around them. Then suddenly the unexpected catastrophe happened. Carla and the other survivors were later picked up by the ship Carpathia. She remembered that they were well taken care of and all the survivors got warm food and drinks against the cold. However Carla also described that the hours on Carpathia were frightful. Some women were just sitting apathetically and staring out into the air and others were wandering around screaming their mens‘
names. Some were lying around just crying and others could not handle the event. Several times they saw canvas covered bodies being lowered over the side. Arriving to New York, Carla was quartered in a hospital. She received $200 from the Women‘s Relief Committee. From the hospital she sent a wire home that she had survived but the rest of her family had not, her father told her to come home immediately. White Star gave her a second class ticket on Adriatic to Liverpool. She was back at Eskildstrup on May 13th 1912 and she never travelled out of Denmark again. Later in 1915, Carla married Frederik Petersen, a farmer from Oremark. They raised three children Laurits Petersen, Ellen Barkholt (neé Petersen) and Bente Petersen. Some years after Frederik‘s death Carla moved to an old people‘s home in Ferritslev, Fyn, Denmark. She died on March 14th 1980 and was by her own request buried in the nightdress she had worn on April 14th 1912.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 9 dedicated to Miss Carla Christine Nielsine Andersen-Jensen. Back side of the Memorabilia.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 106 dedicated to Mr. Hammad Hassab. One and only piece of handcrafted „jewelry“, created by Dodo Newman, the Inspirationaliste. All Titanic Memorabilia have a special holographic and numbered sign on the right bottom corner.
Size: Year: Art category: Base: Materials:
100 cm x 50 cm 2012 Sculptural painting See through PlexiGlas surface Natural Pigments, SWAROVSKI crystal elements, transparent liquid Crystal Resin
Egypt
Mr. Hammad Hassab Mr. Hammad Hassab was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1885. The 27 years old Egyptian became one of the most famous Arabic passenger of the Titanic ship. Already in his young age, fate played a big part in Hassab’s life. During the winter of 1912 the wealthy American millionaire from New York City, Henry Harper arrived to Cairo. Harper and his wife, Myna Harper stayed at the Shepherd Hotel in Downtown Cairo where they asked the British travel company Thomas Hook & Sons who had a branch office in Cairo, in the Shepherd Hotel for a travel guide and translator. They were directed to the 27 years old Hassab. During his service to the Harper family, Hassab used to earn 1.25 sterling pounds from his employer Thomas Hook & Sons. When the trip of the Harper family was about to end, Mr. Harper told Hassab that he was most welcome to travel and go with them to New York City. Hassab was a quite handsome, unmarried man. Since his translator services were no longer requested, Mr. Harper supposed to take Hassab with him to New York more as a friend. Hassab gladly accepted the offer without any hesitation even if he had to leave his brother, Said in Cairo. Mr. Harper bought a first class ticket for his new friend for over 76 sterling pounds, which is nowadays more than $8.000, more than the annual income of Hassab was. Before boarding the Titanic at Cherbourg on Wednesday, April 10th 1912 Hassab and Harper travelled to Paris, France, where Mr. Harper bought a dog. The dog was named Sun Yat-Sen after a Chinese revolutionary.
Harper‘s dog, Sun Yat-Sen.
During the trip on the Titanic Hassab’s identification card revealed that he worked as a dragoman for Mr. Harper and a servant to Mrs. Myna Harper. When the Titanic hit the iceberg, Mr. Harper, Myna and Hassab were having a dinner. As first class passengers they were informed among the first ones by the crew members. One of the crew members asked them to head to their rooms and to put a life jacket while they collected their valuables. The three of them hurried to their rooms then they were taken to the lifeboats. On their way Mr. Harper forgot his hat and he wanted to go back and get it but his wife strictly prevented him from doing so.
Interestingly when James Cameron, the director of the movie “Titanic” sent a robotic device to the wreck of the Titanic in 2001, the robot entered into Mr. Harper’s suite and took a picture of the hat that remained at its spot. Mr. Harper, his wife, Hassab as well as the dog, all survived the tragedy of the Titanic. Eventhough Mr. Haper and Hassab were not supposed to have access to the life boat, they got quickly into the lifeboat 3. Some sources described them as cowards for this act, however also many revealed that Hassab was on the lifeboat to help row.
The only photo available of Mr. Hammad Hassab.
There is a photo of a lifeboat taken by J.W. Parker, crew member of the Carpathia, that might have been the one they got on and interestingly this is the only one photo available about Hassab and Mr. Haper’s wife, Myna. The photo shows two men among many women. The two men, one dark skinned and a white one are seated next to a woman holding a puppy, they are believed to be the Harpers and Hassab. Eventhough their lifeboat was designed to save and carry 60 people, it did not wait for other passengers and it left with less than half of its capacity. This was clearly shown on the taken photograph as well.
After the tragedy they disembarked Carpathia on Thursday April 18th 1912 in New York City. Arriving to New York City Hassab sent a Marconigram to his brother Said, which was transmitted on April 18th 1912 at 5.20 am:
„Said Hassat Mena House Cairo, Egypt All safe Hammad“ Later on Hassab returned to Cairo where he resumed his work as a translator at the same company as he worked before, with Thomas Cook & Sons.
In 1927 Hassab sent a postcard to the United States which depicted a boat crossing on the Nile. The letter which urged a former client to consider to return to Cairo, was dated 1926 and the envelop also included Hassab’s business card.
The business card, which is currently displayed at the Brooklyn Museum was quite extraordinary by stating:
„Having the distinction of being Survivor from the wreck of the Titanic.“
Since Hassab provided a genuine connection between Egypt and the Titanic, already on board (April 12th 1912) a legend developed. According to this legend the Titanic carried a „cursed mummy“, the Princess of Amen-Ra, which was later believed as the reason of the disaster of the unsinkable Titanic.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 106 dedicated to Mr. Hammad Hassab. Back side of the Memorabilia.
The curse of Princess of Amen-Ra During the night of the April 12th 1912 eight people gathered together in the first class smoking room. While all seemed going well they discussed various topics related to the meaning of life. As it usually happens in every trip, the night could not pass without a ghost story. Especially because among one of the group of eight was Mr. William Thomas Stead, the English spiritualist and journalist. Stead was the one who began to tell a ghost story which opened the gate to the legend of the Egyptian mummy, Princess of Amen-Ra on board of the Titanic. This story haunted the Titanic and her sinking for decades. As a spiritualist Stead knew well how-to and when to start his story, just before midnight on the 12th April. He told the other passengers that he had found an Egyptian Mummy and the translation of the inscription on the Mummy’s case. Stead followed his story by explaining that the inscription warned that whoever should verbally recite the inscription would meet a very violent death. The group listened to him with curiosity and they wondered whether his story was serious. Was there such a curse? Was there a mummy on board of the Titanic? While Stead told the story to the curious seven people he already disclosed his premonition about his death. During the disaster seven of the group of eight went down with the ship, including the story teller William Thomas Stead. The only survivor of the group of eight was Mr. Fred Seward. Seward was so shocked after what happened, that later when asked about the full mummy story he told he would never dare to retell it.
Mr. William Thomas Stead
As a fact we know that the Princess of Amen-Ra lived 1,500 years before Christ. When she died she was buried in a vault at Luxor, Egypt. She had an ornate wooden coffin and she was buried deep at the banks of the River Nile. Since the death of the Princess there was silence around it. Only in the late 1890’s her wonderfully handcrafted coffin, including the remains of Princess of Amen-Ra were offered to sale in Luxor for four rich young Englishmen. The four men drew a lot and the winner who purchased the coffin took it to his hotel room. As the legend says a few hours later he was seen walking out to the desert and he never returned. The next day one of the other three men was shot by an Egyptian servant accidentally and his arm was so badly wounded that it had to be amputated. By returning home to England the third man lost his entire savings because his bank had failed. The fourth man lost his job, suffered multiple illness and he had to sell matches in the street to survive. Interestingly the coffin of Princess of Amen-Ra still reached England in another way. After a very misfortunate travel it was purchased by a business man in London. Not so long later three members of the family of the businessman had a serious road accident where they were all injured. Furthermore his house also caught fire, therefore he decided to give away the coffin of the mummy. Finally he donated it to the British Museum.
The coffin of Princess of Amen-Ra
The delivery of the coffin to the British Museum also strengthened the belief of the curse of the Princess. As the coffin was unloaded from the delivery truck just in the courtyard of the British Museum, the truck suddenly went into reverse and hit a passer-by. Right after the accident two workmen were lifting the coffin up the stairs when one of them fell down and broke his leg. Despite he was perfectly healthy, the other workman died suddenly two days later. But this was just the beginning of the tragical and troubled events at the British Museum. After the coffin of the Princess of Amen-Ra was installed in the Egyptian Room of the British Museum the night watchmen frequently heard frantic hammering and sobbing from the coffin. After one watchman died on his night duty at the Museum, the other wanted to quit. After the tragical death the cleaners also refused to go close to the coffin. Since the coffin was not cleaned and handed well, one of the visitors tried to remove the dust from the face of the painted coffin. While he removed the dust his child got a serious infection and he passed away. After the death of the child the authorities stepped in and the British Museum had to remove the coffin of Princess of Amen-Ra from the public Egyptian exhibition room.
Princess of Amen-Ra
The coffin was delivered to the basement in the hope that it will not hurt anyone there. Sadly during the upcoming week the supervisor of the moving was found dead lying on his desk and one of the helpers cauught a serious illness. In 1912 a hard headed American archaeologist purchased the Mummy and tried to arrange its removal from the British Museum to New York. From England he travelled back to the United States with the White Star liner Titanic. In 1985 Charles Haas, President of the Titanic Historical Society gained access to the original Titanic’s cargo manifest and he found out that there was no coffin or mummy on the cargo list of the Titanic. Even if it was probably a confusing, supernatural ghost story originated by Mr. Stead who previously had a visit to the British Museum, the story was given more credit when the survivor Fred Seward told how Stead had told his story on the 12th April, just two days before the disaster happened. It is a known fact that the coffin never left the British Museum and it is still there today. So the coffin itself never travelled onboard the Titanic. It is still there and visible, the British Museum displays the case under EA 22542 and exhibits the coffin lid of Princess of Amen-Ra in Room 62. What makes the legend interesting is the fact that after the tragical sinking of the Titanic in 1912, the British Museum never presented the actual mummy of the Princess of Amen-Ra. As the official explanation says the remains of the Princess of Amen-Ra were left behind in Egypt and it never arrived to England.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 2109 dedicated to Miss Banoura Ayoub Daher. One and only piece of handcrafted „jewelry“, created by Dodo Newman, the Inspirationaliste. All Titanic Memorabilia have a special holographic and numbered sign on the right bottom corner.
Size: Year: Art category: Base: Materials:
100 cm x 50 cm 2012 Sculptural painting See through PlexiGlas surface Natural Pigments, SWAROVSKI crystal elements, transparent liquid Crystal Resin
Lebanon
Miss Banoura Ayoub Daher Miss Banoura, daughter of Ayoub Daher and Mari Yusuf was born in 1900 in Kafr ‘Abaida, Lebanon. Banoura was only 12 years old when she boarded the Titanic. Even at this young age, she was to discern, her lifeboat partially filled, that „many more could have been saved“. Banoura had left her hometown of Kafar Adidah in the district of al-Batrun. She traveled with her cousin, Hanna Tannous Muawwad (John Thomas) and his son, Tannus (Thomas), as well as other relatives from the village of Tuhum. Also, with the group of villagers was Shaninah who would act as chaperone to the young girl. Today, Banoura‘s village lies approximately 53 kilometers from Lebanon’s capital Beirut. There, young Banoura grew up accustomed to her surroundings of almond orchards and olive trees. Immigration meant that this would be the first time she would leave her parents in the village, to travel the vast ocean. This would also be her last. Her cousin, Hanna Tannous Muawwad, was taking her to Columbus where her 17-year-old brother, Dahir, had resided for almost a year. Together the two would go on to Canada where her other older brother, Yusuf (Joseph) lived. Others from her village had reached America – a few having traveled even further to Canada, specifically Owen Sound, Ontario, proof as evidenced in Ellis Island record arrivals in 1911. She was just 12 years old when she travelled with the Titanic. She aimed to join her uncle in Ontario, Canada. When she left her parents behind, Banoura did not know or understand English.
Banoura and Michael on their wedding day
She boarded the Titanic as a third class passenger at Cherbourg on Wednesday, April 10th 1912. She traveled together with her cousins Shawneene George Whabee, Tannous Thomas, Gerios Yousseff and Tannous Doharr.
officers of the ship carried Banoura to the last (collapsible C). She was never to see Hanna, his son, Tannous or Jirjis Yusuf again. The three male cousins of Banoura remained on board of the Titanic, they lost their lives in the disaster.
On the night of the 14th, Banoura was asleep when the collision took place, as were Hanna and his son. The father awoke with the shock of the crash and ran on deck to check out what had happened. Officers of the ship informed him that there was no immediate danger. He returned to tell them that they may as well go back to sleep.
Passengers did not know what to do. Fearing they may lose everything, many carried what they could from their belongings. They quickly came to realize that passengers were being boarded on the lifeboats and not their belongings. Hoping to retrieve them in a lifeboat into which they would be placed, passengers began to throw some personal things overboard from the deck of the sinking ship. Something fell at Banoura’s feet. It turned out to be a sack of rare coins. She picked it up and kept it with her while she waited to see what God had in store for her.
At about 1:30 a.m. she awoke to find water in the cabin. Quickly she woke her cousin who found that his son was not in his bed. During the night when the Titanic hit the iceberg, Banoura was below deck waiting with the other third class passengers. Hanna Tannous Muawwad told her to run up to the deck, as he needed to find his son. Both Banoura and Shaninah recalled that some first class passengers, those who were not permitted to board the lifeboats, ran down to the lower deck to assist in bringing steerage passengers above. They tried to urge the women and the children to leave. The two reasoned that due to the lack of comprehension of English and the instructions being given, these first class passengers came simply to help those they could. Banoura ran and among the confusion, found the young Tannous. She told him that his father was searching for him below and that he must go down at once to find him. There were two stairways, one leading towards the stern and one towards the bow. The boy went down one and the father came up the other. Banoura told her cousin that his son had just gone down to find him, pointing out to him the stairway. Hanna ran back to find him. It was assumed that either Banoura‘s two cousins were caught below deck or that the father was not able to locate his son and could not and would not save himself without him. Jiris Yusuf, another Syrian cousin traveling with her and Shaninah pushed the two women towards the lifeboats. Finally Banoura was saved thanks to Shawnee Abi Saab who took her by hand. They went to the main deck and ultimately to Collapsible Lifeboat C. There, the
The next few hours were hours of suffering. Minutes after being placed upon the lifeboat, Banoura saw the lights of the Titanic go out. Yet more vividly, she remembered the screams and the wails, the moans and the cries of those seeking help reverberated for two hours after the ship sank. It was extremely cold, so bitterly cold, that aboard the lifeboat, as she recounted, four Syrian men on the same boat died from the intense cold before the rescue ship, the Carpathia arrived. She also remembered the sight of another Syrian man who had not been taken aboard the lifeboat, jumping from the deck of the Titanic into the ocean. From the jump his arm struck a piece of ice, cutting him „from the wrist to the elbow, clear to the bone“. He managed to stay afloat until one of the other lifeboats picked him up out of the water. Half clad, she became numb and exhausted to a point that she could not remember clearly the arrival of the Carpathia. After disembarking from Carpathia in New York City on Thursday April 18th 1912, Banoura was taken to one of the local hospitals in New York. Later from the hospital she had been taken to the Hebrew Shelter and was one of the last ones to be released from it from among the Syrian survivors, along with another Syrian distant relative and travel companion Shaninah (Jirjis) Shanin Yusuf Wyhbah.
Titanic survivors on the Carpathia.
Initially, the Syrians did not want to inform her of her cousins‘ deaths, reassuring her that the following day they would arrive. It was five days later that she would be told the horrifying news of their death. Once in New York, Arab-American newspapers were able to corroborate her name and to list it correctly in their publications. Banoura had listed John Abdow as her point of destination on her arrival on the Carpathia. The 1912 Columbus city directory shows at this address John Abdow and Son. The newspaper Mir ah Gharb informed the readers on the 19th that the young girl’s destination was Columbus, Ohio and that she was on her way to join her brothers. At the little dry goods store, many Syrians came to see the little girl and to mourn for the loss of the entire party of her relatives, who had perished on the ship. Cared for and attended to by her relatives, she gave an explicit account, through an interpreter, of her ordeal the night of the sinking. She did not speak English. To reach Columbus, she first traveled to Youngstown with Syrian survivor, Shaninah Yusuf, and then onto Columbus to her relatives and to her brother, Dahir. Finally Banoura could made it to her uncle‘s home in Ontario, Canada. On Wednesday, April 24th 1912 at 2:10 a.m., 12-year-old Banoura Ayoub Dahir arrived in Columbus, Ohio from New York to the dry goods store and home of her cousin, John Abdow at 270 N. Third Street. Variations of her name initially appeared on the list of survivors such as Ayout Banoura and in various Arab-American newspapers shortly after the disaster as Baddurah Ayyub, Manturah Yarub, and Tannurah daughter of Ayyub Dahir. In Lisan al-Hal however, from Kafar Abida, Manturah Yaqub’s name is given as one of the passengers who drowned. In Columbus the family of John Abdow bemoaned the fate of her cousins and his nephew, at 160 N. Fifth Street, at the home of Joseph Thomas, peddler and salesman, relatives and friends of Hanna Tannous Murawwad gathered in sorrow. Hanna, businessman of Columbus, had gone back to Syria to bring back his 15-year-old son to
the city to educate him in Ohio State University. Now both men, along with the other relatives of Banoura had died. The young Syrian girl who had listed on the Manifest „housework“ as her occupation or calling now received from the Emergency Relief by the American Red Cross assistance the amount of $225.00 [ERARC Case No. 96 - $225.00]. Further there is a possibility that it is Banoura Ayoub Dahir who on April 22nd was disbursed the amount of $525.00 and then on the 26th, $575.00 by the Women’s Relief Committee. Through the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigration Society but under the name of „Belaria Hepeb“. Banoura stayed with the Abdows for a time and then went onto Detroit and then to Canada to the home of her uncle. Granddaughter, Mary Ann Reid, who spent much time with her grandmother, states that a woman from the Doharr family in Ontario came to the U.S. and took Banoura back to live with the uncle. It appears that one of the relatives traveling with Banoura was this uncle’s son. No one recalls the name of the uncle or the son. However, the victim would have to have been either Jiris Yusuf or Tannous Dahir. Distraught over the loss of his own son, Banoura’s uncle could not bear to look at the young girl and turned her out of his home „as she survived and his son did not“. After not being accepted by the uncle, the ‘Doharr’ woman then took Banoura to her home. The „Doharr“ family name would lead one to believe then that the cousin who had perished may well have been Tannous Dahir. It was during her stay with the ‘Doharr’ woman and her large family that, there Banoura met her future husband. Sadly her uncle turned away from her and he did not allow the girl to stay in the house. Banoura was taken in by another woman who had immigrated from Lebanon earlier. Just after five months of the tragedy, on September 9th 1912, Banoura married Michael Deyoub who had immigrated from Syria.
On September 11th 1912, at the age of 13, she married 26-year-old Michael Deyoub. Originally from a town near Damascus he had immigrated to the United States some years earlier. Michael and Banoura’s marriage took place about 150 miles north of Toronto in Owen Sound, in the county of Grey. The marriage certificate shows Banoura’s age as 17, which, according to her family, was not her true age. She had taken the age of a deceased sister. While residing in Windsor, where both her brothers now lived, two children were born, Mary (Samaha) and George. They then moved to Detroit, Michigan where Banoura’s husband found work with the Ford Motor Company’s Rouge Assembly Plant. Five more children were born, Peter, Tamir John, Ferris, Margaret (Romano) and Sarah. Mary and George became American citizens after their father had taken his U.S. citizenship. What Ferris remembers most about his mother was that although she was a ‘tiny lady’ she had a big heart. „Mom was a fighter“ and from the time of her rescue, knowing that there was only a small chance that some would survive, she did beat the odds. She did the same for her children and family. The sack of coins that remained with her as a „scar“ from the Titanic, she eventually sold during the Depression to ensure that her children were fed and that there was always food on the table. She also had a strong character. The young girl who had grown into a fearless mother was ready to guarantee that house expenses be paid and the support of her family secured. Her husband, Michael, while working at Ford Motor Company‘s Rouge Assembly Plant, received a cash envelope with his pay for the week. One week Michael came home without his pay, having gambled it away. Banoura got on a bus, went down to Ford‘s Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan and told her complaint to Henry Ford himself.
As luck would have it, when Banoura went to the plant, which was a small operation at the time, Henry Ford was there that day. This woman of fortitude met one on one with him to ask that her husband‘s paycheck be sent to her personally. From that day onward all subsequent pay envelopes were sent directly to her instead of being given to her husband. Banoura’s husband died in 1956 and Banoura in 1970. She is buried in Mt Olivet Cemetery in Detroit. As a 12-year-old, Banoura had sailed the ocean but would never sail the waters again. Banoura never returned to her parents to Lebanon and despite her experience on the Titanic she loved boating. As for the woman who accompanied her aboard the Titanic and who brought her with her to Youngstown, Shaninah, when interviewed in 1937, only knew that Banoura was married and lived in Canada and that she had „two fine children“. Family members say that there was never any contact again after their arrival in the U.S. Banoura Ayoub never talked about the Titanic, and when her children took her to see the Clifton Webb movie about the disaster, Banoura Ayoub Deyoub cried and cried. Banoura died on December 3rd 1970 in Detroit.
Banoura and Michael in the early 1950's.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 2109 dedicated to Miss Banoura Ayoub Daher. Back side of the Memorabilia.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 42 dedicated to Mrs. Miriam Kantor. One and only piece of handcrafted „jewelry“, created by Dodo Newman, the Inspirationaliste. All Titanic Memorabilia have a special holographic and numbered sign on the right bottom corner.
Size: Year: Art category: Base: Materials:
100 cm x 50 cm 2012 Sculptural painting See through PlexiGlas surface Natural Pigments, SWAROVSKI crystal elements, transparent liquid Crystal Resin
Russia
Mrs. Miriam Kantor Mrs. Miriam Kantor was born in 1888 in Witebsk, Russia. Her father was from Moscow, Russia which was also the residence of Miriam when she boarded the Titanic. She was married to Mr. Sinai Kantor and they aimed to travel together to Bronx, New York. The 24 years old Miriam and her husband purchased their second class ticket and they boarded the Titanic on April 10th 1912 in Southampton. Her husband was a commission merchant bringing several trunks of valuable fur to the United States, expecting to sell them there. He also planned to study medicine once he established himself in New York. Miriam also had a university degree and she also planned to continue her studies in New York. She wanted to study dentistry. Miriam survived the disaster, she was rescued in lifeboat 12 by the ship Carpathia. Her husband Sinai perished in the ocean. Later on his body was recovered by the MacKay Bennett (#283) and it was buried at Mount Zion Cemetery, Queens, New York, USA. After arriving to New York City on Thursday, April 18th 1912 she decided to go to her uncle Mr. Berman at Boston, Massachusetts. She was unwilling to return to Russia because she could not earn her living there.
Since Miriam lost all of her money in the disaster, the American Red Cross Emergency Fund decided to cover her tuition and school fees and living expenses for the period of four years. The fund was placed in charge of the Council of Jewish Women who supervisioned her studies. Beside the generous help of the American Red Cross Emergency Fund ($809.98) and the Mansion House Titanic Relief Fund (ÂŁ100), Miriam also had a life insurance claim of $50,000 and a property insurance claim of $2,200.
„The grief of the young widow was of that profound kind which has passed the stage of tears. When the interview was over and she was to go, whether she knew not, in a land where she was penniless, where she knew no word of its language, she stood for a moment looking at the stronger woman, who had mastered the situation and had been the leader. Hesitatingly she held out her hand, and then turning her face up like a little child, she paid the only tribute she understood as she kissed the older woman on the cheek, and mutely walked away with the Consul leading her by the hand. It was the final tribute to fortitude combined with tenderness.“ - Mrs. J. J. Brown recalled the THE TIMES Magazine interview on April 20th 1912, seeing last time the little brown-eyed, baby-faced Miriam at the RitzCarlton with the Russian Consul.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 42 dedicated to Mrs. Miriam Kantor. Back side of the Memorabilia.
Courtesy of National Geographic
The Titanic love story On April 13th 2012 the Internet portal Russia Beyond the Headlines, published an interview with Anatoly Sagalevich, who as a hydronaut visited the wreck of the Titanic more than 50 times. He also met with James Cameron. Sagalevich suggested the director to extend the Titanic movie with a great love story. Everything started in July 1991, when Sagalevich saw for the very first time the Titanic wreck. As he described it, it was an impression which he will never forget. During those times he worked together with Stephen Low on the film called „Titanica“.
„When I saw it, it left me in complete awe. And to this day, every time I go on an expedition to the ship, I am overcome with the same feelings. Two parts of a huge hull lying within about half a mile of each other. The space between them is strewn with randomly scattered objects. On the first expedition, we used bottom beacons to reach the bow part of the liner. I immediately identified the tip of a broken mast with the “crow’s nest,” the misshapen platform of the lookout man who was probably the first to see the ship’s impending destruction. The hold had been turned upside down and you can see the frames of cars that probably belonged to the rich passengers. Then there was the starboard lifeboat deck. Through a ripped side, I could see inside Captain Smith’s cabin, his bathroom and his bed. The officers’ cabins are separated from the outside world by square portholes. In short, every detail and every new angle revealed traces of a sudden tragedy. I have seen many shipwrecks at the bottom of the sea. But the Titanic is truly the epitome of great human disaster, woven together by the hundreds of individual tragedies of its passengers. Nobody that night could have imagined that such a super-modern ship was in any kind of danger. As it turned out, the Titanic’s maiden voyage, with its creator on board, was also its last. Humanity paid a price for its arrogance.“ - Anatoly Sagalevich
Just one year later during the film premier of the „Titanica“, Sagalevich was introduced to James Cameron who was eager to make a film about the disaster. Cameron asked Sagalevich‘s permission to see the deep-water submersibles that were used to make unique shots. One day Cameron shared with Sagalevich his main doubt, that the underwater footage alone is not enough, a gripping plot was needed and he did not even have a leitmotif. This was the turning point when a small conversation initiated of one of the most amazing and heart-breaking story, the „Titanic“ movie. What Sagalevich highlighted purely and simply: - The world is tired of blood and violence, cruelty and petty rivalries. Why don’t you show noble relationships between people and romantic love? - What is love as you understand it? - asked Cameron. - Love is like flying. Not so later Cameron flew back to the United States and it seemed that the idea for the film was dead and buried.
One day Sagalevich‘s phone rang and Cameron was on the other side: - Tolya, we’re on. Let’s get to work. During the 19 days of the expedition Cameron always dived together with Sagalevich and they made 12 tandem dives. Initially Cameron planned to shoot eight sequences for the film, but he ended up shooting more than 30, even if he had to work in a 12 degrees Celsius temperature in the depth of the Ocean.
Scene from James Cameron‘s „Titanic“ movie. Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Paramount Pictures, Lightstorm Entertainment
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 144 dedicated to Miss Manca Karun. One and only piece of handcrafted „jewelry“, created by Dodo Newman, the Inspirationaliste. All Titanic Memorabilia have a special holographic and numbered sign on the right bottom corner.
Size: Year: Art category: Base: Materials:
100 cm x 50 cm 2012 Sculptural painting See through PlexiGlas surface Natural Pigments, SWAROVSKI crystal elements, transparent liquid Crystal Resin
Slovenia
Miss Manca Karun Miss Manca Karun was among the youngest passengers of the Titanic ship and her relatives are still alive in Slovenia. She was born in 1907 in a part of Austria-Hungary, which is today‘s Slovenia. She boarded the Titanic on April 10th 1912 with her father Franz Karun and her mother‘s brother-in-law. She was only 4 years old at the time of the tragedy. Mr. Karun and little Manca lived in Milje Slovenia and they traveled to Galesburg, Illinois as 3rd class passengers of the Titanic. Mr. Karun was returning from Slovenia to the United States after selling the family farm for $750. On the night of the disaster both Karun and her father were saved by lifeboat 15 and they disembarked from the ship Carpathia in New York City. Unfortunately the $750 income from the farm was lost in the ocean during the disaster. Mr. Karun was among the very few who traveled with a child without the mother on board and for this reason he had a place in the lifeboat. The lifeboat 15 was the last rescue boat lowered in the ocean and Manca boarded first. Mr. Karun was the last to be lowered by rope, which greatly surprised him since there were only women and children in the lifeboat. The following year of the disaster Manca and her family returned to Slovenia, which is where she found love with Anton Juvan. They got married and lived in Slovenia until her death in September 18th 1971.
Manca Karun with her family, standing second from the left. Manca‘s four siblings later returned to the United States. Interestingly Manca also gave life to four children: Toucka, Marjan, Anica and Lojzka. Some of her descendants still live in Milje, Slovenia.
Survivors of the Titanic on the deck of the ship that rescued them, the Carpathia. Courtesy of Bain News Service, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 144 dedicated to Miss Manca Karun. Back side of the Memorabilia.
"Untergang der Titanic", as conceived by Willy Stรถwer, 1912
I‘ll see you in New York. South African passenger Mr. Thomas William Solomon Brown was among the few, who in the middle of the tragedy of the Titanic did not forget to be human. Once he secured his beloved wife Elizabeth and his daughter Edith in lifeboat 14, he stepped back on to the boat deck and he offered his seat in the lifeboat to secure others. He ensured a beautiful, long life for his daugther, since Edith became the oldest survivor of the sinking of the Titanic.
„He was talking to the Rev. Carter and smoking a cigar.“ - remembered Edith, his daughter „That was the last time I saw my father. He said, 'I‘ll see you in New York.'“
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 2106 dedicated to Mr. Thomas William Solomon Brown. One and only piece of handcrafted „jewelry“, created by Dodo Newman, the Inspirationaliste. All Titanic Memorabilia have a special holographic and numbered sign on the right bottom corner.
Size: Year: Art category: Base: Materials:
100 cm x 50 cm 2012 Sculptural painting See through PlexiGlas surface Natural Pigments, SWAROVSKI crystal elements, transparent liquid Crystal Resin
South Africa
Mr. Thomas William Solomon Brown Mr. Thomas William Solomon Brown was born in 1852 in Cape Colony, South Africa.
The family boarded the Titanic at Southampton on Wednesday, April 10th 1912 as second class passengers.
Mr. Brown was a successful hotelier at Cape Colony, South Africa but he decided to start a new life in Seattle, U.S.A. when his business suddenly started to decline. Seattle was also familiar for him as the hometown of his sister-in-law.
The family was occupied in separate cabines, mother and daughter shared a four bed cabin with two other ladies, whereas Mr. Brown was accomodated in another cabin.
He turned 60 when he boarded the Titanic with his second wife Elizabeth and his daugther Edith Eileen. Elizabeth was 20 years younger than Mr. Brown and the couple had two children. The family already suffered from a tragical loss of their first child, who passed away at the age of 8 from diphteria, which was a serious bacterial infection in those times.
On the night of the sinking Mr. Brown secured the survival of his beloved family, placed his wife and daughter in lifeboat 14 and he stepped back and gave a chance to others. As many survivors remembered he was there just smoking a cigar, awaiting his fate. After the sinking his body if recovered, was never identified. Mr. Brown died with the Titanic on April 15th 1912.
The Browns Prepare to Abandon Ship (on Sunday 3rd August 2003, David Haisman published a book with an extraordinary insight about his mother‘s experiences on the Titanic. The book was titled: I‘ll See You In New York) Her father stood in the doorway of their cabin and said, „There's talk that the ship has hit an iceberg.“ It was those fateful words that were to change their lives forever. Edith, along with her mother Elizabeth, were sharing a Second Class cabin onboard the Titanic. Her father, Thomas W.S. Brown, was sharing another Second Class cabin further along the passageway. It was almost midnight on Sunday of April 14th 1912 when Thomas still in evening dress, made this announcement to his wife and daughter. Just 15 minutes previous to this, both women had been woken up by what only could be described as a shudder and several soft bumps. At that precise moment, Edith occupying the upper berth, switched on her bunk light, parted the surrounding curtains, and peered down at her mother lying on the bunk below. Elizabeth had also heard the noises and, on turning on her own bunk light, stared up at her daughter in total bewilderment. Edith quickly threw back her bed covers, swung her feet out and on turning, descended step by step down the little varnished bunk ladder to the cabin floor. Crossing the cabin to the porthole, she pulled the neat little curtains apart, opened the port glass and stared out into the blackness. At first, she could see nothing until her eyes became accustomed to the darkness and then gradually, she began to make out the ships lights reflecting on the black water far down below. The sea was flat calm with no wind and looking up, she could see a mass of stars in the night sky. Looking down again towards the stern of the ship she could see great swirls of foam and turbulence as the ships propellers churned up
the water, apparently, going full astern. This in turn caused a great deal of vibration around the cabin with the clinking of glasses in the wash stand, creaking and squeaking of wood panelling about the room and door handles rattling. Edith drew her head back in from the porthole to enable her mother to see for herself that the ship was stopping. Elizabeth looked down at the water for a brief moment and then, drawing her head back in, crossed the cabin back to her berth. Sitting on the edge of her bunk with a worried look on her face, she said to Edith in a somewhat shaky voice, „I wonder what this is all about then?“ The excessive vibration experienced just a few moments ago, had now stopped as Elizabeth, sitting on the edge of her bunk, now rose to cross the cabin floor to turn on the main overhead cabin light. The only sound now audible was the distant whine of an electric motor from somewhere far inside of the ship. The night air from the open porthole made the cabin feel colder and Elizabeth, sitting down again on the edge of her bunk, said to Edith, „Pass me my dressing gown from the wardrobe please dear.“ After passing her mother‘s dressing gown to her, Edith crossed again to the porthole to see if anything else was happening. Once again, after her eyes had become accustomed to the darkness, she could see that all was quiet, the turbulence had ceased and the ship was now motionless on a flat calm sea. On closing the porthole, Edith crossed the cabin to sit alongside of her mother on the lower berth saying to her mother, „Everything seems so quiet.“ It was shortly after this that Thomas had tapped the door and informed them about the iceberg. He had advised them to put on warm clothing and life jackets and to follow him back up on deck. Eliz-
abeth looked at her husband in utter disbelief at such a suggestion. Thomas on the other hand was not to be deterred and on entering the room, reached up to the top of the wardrobe and pulled down two lifejackets. Elizabeth was an extremely nervous person by nature and this action by her husband wasn't helping matters any. Edith at 15 years of age was not too worried at this stage and obediently did as she was told, knowing her father never made any rash decisions. Both women proceeded to put on their long grey serge topcoats before Thomas began to help them on with their life jackets. Elizabeth remained speechless as her husband busied himself about her, adjusting the bulky life jacket and finally tying the tapes in front with a large bow. The life jackets were made up with cumbersome hard square chunks of cork, held together by stitched duck canvas and when placed over the head, hung from the shoulders and tied at the waist. With these on over their heavy clothing, both women looked and felt twice their size, causing Edith to giggle for a moment, forgetting the seriousness of the situation briefly. Before leaving their cabin to go up on the boat deck Edith said to her father, „Why aren't you wearing your life jacket father?“ to which he replied, „Don‘t let that worry you for the moment my dear. Let‘s get you and your mother organised first and then I can get myself sorted out later.“ Edith thought how typical of him. Always putting us first at all times. Making their way out of their cabin, they proceeded along the plush carpeted passageway to the first flight of stairs, which would take them up to the Second Class Promenade Deck. At this time there were just a few passengers moving about the passageways and stairs, some in evening dress, others with coats over night attire, and some with life jackets on. There was a bedroom steward with a tray of dirty cups and saucers balancing on the palm of one hand, tapping cabin doors with the knuckles of his other hand calling out, „Everyone up with life jackets on please!“ He continued with this until arriving at the night pantry at the far end of the passageway. There was little response, the whole scene quite
relaxed with the odd quip about having a good nights sleep being disturbed and others, not even bothering to answer the stewards call. They continued up the stairs with their carved banisters and beautiful wood panelling on the walls, passing other passengers returning to their cabins, remarking that it was too cold to remain on deck for any length of time. They arrived at the top of the final flight of stairs and stepped out onto the boat deck into the cold night air, joining a group of people already gathered around lifeboat no.14. Thomas had noticed whilst in their cabin the small notice behind the door saying that occupants of that cabin would assemble at lifeboat station no. 14. during any emergency. Below their position on the boat deck, they could hear lively music being played by the ship‘s orchestra, with Elizabeth remarking to her husband nervously, „Some people don't seem too worried about this situation Tom.“ His reply was, „It‘s better to be prepared in case things get out of hand and we may have to get into those boats.“ Other people stood around engaging in light-hearted conversation as they watched some seamen take the covers off of the boats and prepare them for lowering down to the water. Edith was feeling tired after being woken from a deep sleep and between yawns began to think about her comfortable bunk and said to Thomas, „When do you think we'll be able to go back to bed father?“ „Soon dear. Soon.“ he replied. Her mother however was far from tired and was showing some considerable concern as the crew continued working at clearing away the boats. Her father, fully realising her mother's fears at the way things were developing, did his best to calm her down by saying that he didn't think it would be too long before he would be taking them below again and tucking them in for the night, once the emergency had been called off. There was considerable talk about ice being thrown about by some of the steerage passengers on the forward Well Deck. There was also mention that some Third Class passengers at the forward end were leaving the Well Deck area carrying their suitcases and belongings. Up to this point in time, there had been no official indication that anything was wrong, other than some stewards directing passengers to go up on deck with their life jackets on. There had been no alarm bells, hooters
or announcements from ship‘s officers that there was a problem, hence the relaxed attitude of the passengers.
certainly bring that along with her if ever going back to the cabin for any reason.
Edith and her parents continued to wait patiently, watching and listening to the goings on around them as more people continued to arrive on the boat deck. Many were still in evening dress and apparently in good spirits, attempting a witty remark now and then as the ship's orchestra continued to play lively music from the deck below. Amongst the chatter there was wild speculation as to what had actually happened with rumours that the ship would need to undergo urgent repairs whilst others spoke about the emergency being over reacted and would soon be called off. Apart from all of this, passengers and crew alike were behaving in an orderly fashion although the look on Thomas's face revealed that he wasn't too happy at the way things were developing.
Lifeboat No. 14, being their designated boat, had Fifth Officer Lowe in command. He was a Welshman in his late twenties and well known as a bit of a disciplinarian, ordering people into the boat in no uncertain terms. His voice had authority and could be heard on more than one occasion, shouting at the crew to,
The night appeared to be very still now with the ship stopped, but very cold with several passengers returning to their cabins to put on extra clothing and some, unbelievably, returning to go back to bed. This was not to last however as ship's stewards, stewardesses and all other crew members were given strict orders that all cabins would have to be evacuated immediately and told to proceed to the boat deck with life jackets on.
Her husband could see her point but dared not say anything other than,
The crew were performing their duties in an orderly professional manner, treating all classes firmly and politely. Elizabeth was becoming increasingly distressed as more boats were being prepared for lowering and, once at deck level, people ordered into them with greater urgency. Thomas was doing his best to calm her down by saying, „Don‘t upset yourself my dear. I shall probably get into another boat once all the women and children are sorted out first.“ He knew this didn't sound very convincing but what else could he say at a time like this? Edith held tightly onto her father's arm with both of her arms, stamping first one foot and then the other in order to maintain some circulation around her feet. She began to think about how fortunate she had been by bringing her Wordsworth Birthday Book with her as she would never leave that behind whatever the circumstances. She remembered leaving behind in it's place, her gold and coral necklace that her father had recently bought for her in London and would
„Get a bloody move on!“ More and more people were beginning to arrive on the boat deck from the decks below as Elizabeth said to Thomas in a faltering voice, „How on earth do they expect to get this lot into those tiny boats.?“
„It's quite amazing just what those boats will hold.“ At this time the Reverend Carter rejoined the „Browns“ at lifeboat No.14, after taking his wife, Lillian, to her respective lifeboat. The Carters had been their dining companions since leaving Southampton and they had all become good friends during the voyage but now, Earnest Carter would remain with Thomas until the end. Edith had always remembered this turn of events regarding Lillian Carter, throughout her lifetime, as there were questions that just didn't add up. If she had gotten into a lifeboat, then how come she was listed as drowned? Or perhaps she had decided to leave her boat before lowering to rejoin her husband the Reverend Carter in order to be with him until the very end? The Titanic will no doubt keep some of these secrets forever.
The iceberg thought to have been hit by Titanic, photographed on the morning of April 15 1912.
„I certainly hope so“ As more people assembled around the boats there was an instant almighty deafening roar high above their heads as super heated steam exploded out of one of the waste pipes at the top of one of the funnels. This caused screams and shouts with people ducking almost as one, thinking for an instant that the ship would blow up beneath them. The deafening roar of steam that had to be vented off due to the enormous build up of pressure from the boilers was now blocking out all other sounds as the crew and officers continued to shout through cupped hands and wave their arms around in their efforts to be understood. After some twenty minutes or so, the noise had abated somewhat to just a loud hiss and the ship's orchestra could be heard once again, this time playing on the boat deck. „Look father! There's a light over there.“ Thomas followed his daughter‘s outstretched arm to a light twinkling on the horizon. „Yes my dear!“ he replied quickly. „I do believe you're right!“ With that the Rev. Carter also agreed that there was indeed a light on the horizon. Edith then said excitedly,
„Do you think they will come to help us father?“ „Yes“ replied Thomas. „I certainly hope so.“ The time had now come for Edith and Elizabeth to get into lifeboat 14 and Edith was dreading the thought of leaving her father on the boatdeck and how it would effect her mother. Adapted from the book titled „I'll See You In New York“ by David Haisman.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 2106 dedicated to Mr. Thomas William Solomon Brown. Back side of the Memorabilia.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 606 dedicated to Miss Edith Eileen Brown. One and only piece of handcrafted „jewelry“, created by Dodo Newman, the Inspirationaliste. All Titanic Memorabilia have a special holographic and numbered sign on the right bottom corner.
Size: Year: Art category: Base: Materials:
100 cm x 50 cm 2012 Sculptural painting See through PlexiGlas surface Natural Pigments, SWAROVSKI crystal elements, transparent liquid Crystal Resin
South Africa
Miss Edith Eileen Brown Miss Edith Eileen Brown, the oldest living survivor of the sinking of the Titanic was born on October 27th 1896 in Cape Colony, South Africa. Her father was Mr. Thomas William Solomon Brown and her mother was Ms. Elizabeth Catherine Ford. Edith was only 15 years old when she boarded the Titanic as a second class passanger traveling to Seattle with her family. Thanks to her beloved father, Edith and her mother were rescued in lifeboat 14 by the ship Carpathia. She lost her father, who offered his seat to others during the tragedy. Arriving to New York mother and daughter spent some days at the Junior League House in New York, before they continued their travel to her aunt in Seattle. Despite the family plans they did not stay in the U.S.A. and they went back to South Africa. In the upcoming years mother and child were separated, Edith lived with relatives in Cape Town bur her mother remarried, left her and moved to Rhodesia. After some years of suffering life offered love to Edith, when she met with Mr. Frederick Thankful Haisman in May 1917. Interestingly just six weeks later Edith and Frederick were married, holding the ceremony on June 30th 1917. Edith gave birth to her first child in August 1918, she gifted her husband with 10 children altogether.
Later the family moved to Southampton, then they moved back to South Africa to their roots. They were finally rested at Southampton. When she was 99, Edith had a great desire to go back and visit the site of the sinking of the Titanic. She wanted to throw a rose into the ocean, where also her father found his final resting place. Her daughter, Dorothy Kendall remembers this way: „It was a sort of remembrance for my mother,“ „He (Edith's father) was talking to the Rev. Carter and smoking a cigar,“ - Ms. Kendall said - „That was the last time she saw her father. He said, 'I'll see you in New York.'“ „She saw the ship go down from half a mile away,“ - Ms. Kendall said - „The lights were on, and the band was playing.“ „The next morning she saw bodies, a lot of bodies in the water, some in their pajamas, some in vests, some only in underpants.“ „She had nightmares for years, but she's got over it,“ - Ms. Kendall said. Edith Eileen Haisman died on January 20th 1997 in her 100th year of lifetime. She recieved the gift from Life to go back to the site where she lost her father and has changed her life, before she passed away and found peace in a nursing home.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 606 dedicated to Miss Edith Eileen Brown. Back side of the Memorabilia.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 98 dedicated to Mrs. Elizabeth Catherine Brown (née Ford). One and only piece of handcrafted „jewelry“, created by Dodo Newman, the Inspirationaliste. All Titanic Memorabilia have a special holographic and numbered sign on the right bottom corner.
Size: Year: Art category: Base: Materials:
100 cm x 50 cm 2012 Sculptural painting See through PlexiGlas surface Natural Pigments, SWAROVSKI crystal elements, transparent liquid Crystal Resin
South Africa
Mrs. Elizabeth Catherine Brown (nĂŠe Ford) Elizabeth Catherine Ford, mother of Edith Eileen Brown and wife of Mr. Thomas William Solomon Brown was born in 1872 in the Cape Colony, South Africa. She turned 40 when the family boarded on the Titanic as second class passengers towards Seattle. Thomas and Elizabeth had two daughters, but they traveled only with Edith because the other child passed away at age 8 from diphteria. On the night of April 14th to 15th 1912, when the tragedy happened Mr. Brown placed her and his daughter in lifeboat 14. He secured their survival while he stepped back and waited for his fate.
Mrs. Brown and her daughter were rescued by the ship Carpathia. They reached their original destination in Seattle with her sister Josephine and her husband Edward, however after a few years they decided to move back to South Africa. Elizabeth Brown soon remarried and went to Rhodesia, where she died on June 29th 1925.
A collapsible lifeboat with canvas sides.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 98 dedicated to Mrs. Elizabeth Catherine Brown (nĂŠe Ford). Back side of the Memorabilia.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 150 dedicated to Mr. Julian Padron Manent. One and only piece of handcrafted „jewelry“, created by Dodo Newman, the Inspirationaliste. All Titanic Memorabilia have a special holographic and numbered sign on the right bottom corner.
Size: Year: Art category: Base: Materials:
100 cm x 50 cm 2012 Sculptural painting See through PlexiGlas surface Natural Pigments, SWAROVSKI crystal elements, transparent liquid Crystal Resin
Spain
Mr. Julian Padron Manent The 26 years old Mr. Julian Padron Manent was born in Spain in 1885 from his parents Gertrudis and Andres. The young Julian worked as a chauffeur before he boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg on April 10th 1912. For this young and single gentleman the journey with the Titanic was just a part of his aim to travel from Barcelona, Spain to his home in Plaza del Valor, Havana, Cuba.
For Mr. Manent the journey was life changing from many aspects and fate played an enourmous part in it. This young gentleman did not only survive the tragedy but he also found true love on board of the Titanic. After it‘s sinking the lucky Mr. Manent married fellow survivor Florentina Duran y More and they lived for 47 years together in love.
After purchasing his ticket for ÂŁ13 17s 3d, he traveled as a second class passenger with his ticket number of SC/PARIS 2146.
Florentina died in 1959 and 9 years later, in 1968 Julian Padron followed her as well. To symbolize fate and the forever loving bond, they were buried next to each other in an elaborate mausoleum in Colon Cemetery, Havana, Cuba.
He was luckily rescued on lifeboat 9 and on Thursday, April 18th 1912. He disembarked Carpathia in New York City.
They had no children but they safeguarded two precious gifts: Life and Love.
Eager to hear the latest news about the sinking of the RMS Titanic, people gather outside the offices of The New York Sun on April 15, 1912. Courtesy of The New York Times
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 150 dedicated to Mr. Julian Padron Manent. Back side of the Memorabilia.
Banoura and Michael in the early 1950's
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 2071 dedicated to Mr. Alden Gates Caldwell. One and only piece of handcrafted „jewelry“, created by Dodo Newman, the Inspirationaliste. All Titanic Memorabilia have a special holographic and numbered sign on the right bottom corner.
Size: Year: Art category: Base: Materials:
100 cm x 50 cm 2012 Sculptural painting See through PlexiGlas surface Natural Pigments, SWAROVSKI crystal elements, transparent liquid Crystal Resin
Thailand
Mr. Alden Gates Caldwell Mr. Alden Gates Caldwell was probably the only Thai passenger on the Titanic and he was also among the youngest ones. He was born on June 10th 1911 in Bangkok, Siam, today Thailand. He was the son of Albert Francis and Sylvia Mae Caldwell and he was just 10 months old when he boarded the Titanic. His parents Sylvia and Albert attended Park College in Missouri where they met and fell in love. Shortly after their graduation they married on September 1st 1909 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The couple moved to Siam and they both taught at the Bangkok Christian College for Boys in Bangkok. They were under the auspices of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, while there they retained their American Citizenship. Their son, Alden Gates Caldwell was born on June 10th 1911, in Bangkok. The little Alden lost the dual citizenship due to the unfortunate fact that the birth was not registered at the American Consulate. Later on the grown up Alden found himself unable to obtain a birth certificate and had no official proof of his dual, American citizenship. In 1912 the family traveled through Europe and they were at Naples, Italy when they saw a sign in the hotel advertising. It was the advert of the new White Star liner Titanic and his coming first voyage. They immediately decided to travel with the Titanic but they were unable to make a reservation in Naples, therefore they traveled to England. Arriving to London they waited for a cancellation in the White Star office, but luckily they got the tickets they wanted.
The Caldwell family boarded the Titanic on April 10th 2012. © Courtesy of Julie Williams, the author of the book „A Rare Titanic Family“
On April 10th 1912 the family boarded the Titanic in Southampton as second class passengers. They aimed to travel home with the Titanic to Biggsville Illinois, United States. „It was a carefree and happy throng that sailed with the Titanic on her first and last voyage... The rhythmic beat of her propellers would, as a matter of fact, not cease until the narrow Atlantic had been crossed. The weather was ideal and the sea was calm. Everyone was having a good time... The tables were piled high with all the luxuries and delicacies that one would desire. All were interested in the record speed that we were making. No mention was made of the icebergs.“ - Albert Francis Caldwell On the evening of the disaster Albert Francis Caldwell spoke on the subject „Perils of the Sea“ at his table during the second class dinner. „How little did that happy group, who with reverent thoughts, were worshiping God, realize that within a few hours the majority of them would meet him.“ - remembered later back Albert Francis Caldwell After dinner the Caldwell family retired to bed at 10pm. They were awakened by the sound of the collision and the sudden stopping of the engines. Going up to the deck a sailor told them about hitting the iceberg, but he also ensured them that there was no danger to the unsinkable Titanic ship. The Caldwell family returned to their cabin and they went to sleep. They were awakened a second time as well, but this time by someone repeatedly hitting the door bells and yelling „Everyone on deck with your life belts.“
The Caldwell family before the Titanic disaster.
Putting on his clothes Albert was clearly not alerted. He even left his best suit and several U.S. gold pieces in his cabin. The Caldwell family made their way up to the boat deck where a great throng of people had gathered. There was no panic and when the order came to fill the lifeboats, women and children first, passengers were initially reluctant: „They felt that it was safer to stay on the big ship. She could not sink. Consequently, the first lifeboats left the ship half filled with women and children who were practically forced into them. I did not want to trust the lives of my wife and baby to a tiny life boat and be lowered into the ocean, and we like many others held back.“ - Albert Francis Caldwell
Little Alden was wrapped in a blanket but he cried incessantly in the hands of Mr. Ray. As Mr. Lawrence Beesley, fellow lifeboat 13 member recalled, the baby Alden cried until someone noticed his feet were exposed. As soon as they covered the little feet the crying was stopped. From the safety of the boat they watched as the great ship sank: „At first, she seemed unharmed but, as we looked toward the bow of the ship we could see that the lower line of portholes extended down into the water. The lights on the Titanic burned until a few minutes before she sank. She tipped, head- first, lower and lower into the water, until all that we could see was the stern of the boat outlined against the starry sky. She hung as if on a pivot and then, with a gentle swish, disappeared from sight. For a moment all was silence and then, across that waste of waters, wafted a sound that will ever ring in my ears, the cries of those perishing in the icy water. They did not drown for they2009-2014 could not withPeriod: stand the cold water and died, one by one, from exposure.“ - Albert Francis Caldwell Alden Caldwell one month after the Titanic disaster in his mother's booklet, „Women of the Titanic Disaster“. When a stoker came up from below he was in a far better position to tell them the truth that water was gushing into the holds and the Titanic was sinking. Mrs. Caldwell got into the lifeboat 13, while the little Alden was tossed to Mr. Steward Frederick Ray who was in charge next to the lifeboat. Mr. Caldwell stepped into the bow as the boat was lowered.
The whole Caldwell family were rescued and they disembarked in New York City from Carpathia on Thursday, April 18th 1912. Later on Sylvia published the „Women of the Titanic Disaster“, a narrative of the sorrow and sacrifices of her fellow female passengers. On December 21st 1914 life surprised Alden with a little brother, the second son of Sylvia and Albert was born. He was Raymond M. Caldwell. The seemingly happy couple, Albert and Sylvia were divorced in 1930. Alden’s mother Sylvia moved to Bloomington and 14 years later she remarried to Mr. George J. Mecherle. She died on January 14th 1965. Albert later also remarried to Jennie Whit Congleton.
Alden graduated in 1934 from the University of Illinois. He received his master degree as a chemical engineer. He never married and he lived most of his life in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He worked for Leigh-Portland Cement Company as a chemical engineer for more than 33 years. Alden was very passionate to try to prove his American citizenship. He wanted to gain the American citizenship in order to receive social security benefits and retirement fund. Later on, after his father’s death in 1977, Alden retired in Largo, Florida. In his remaining life Alden spent the time with travels between his winter hem in Florida and his summer cottage in tone Lake, Wisconsin. He loved to play golf and to go to fish. He was a very lonely man lived solitarily, many remembered him as an unfriendly and reclusive person. When he died in 1992, some of his neighbours did not even know his name. Alden also refused to attend the reunion of the Titanic survivors in 1988. Of course some others remember him as a kind person, who freely spoke about his memories about the Titanic ship. He always highlighted that he held no interest in the story of the Titanic, however Alden was always open to re-tell it and did not mind to speak endlessly about what his parents told him about it. Between 1986 and 1987 his memories were preserved on audio tape and it is kept safely in the archives of the Titanic International Society. It is the only known interview that Alden gave about his experiences on the Titanic. He died on December 18th 1992 in Largo, Florida.
The booklet written by Alden‘s mother, Sylvia Mae Caldwell.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 2071 dedicated to Mr. Alden Gates Caldwell. Back side of the Memorabilia.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 126 dedicated to Mr. Neshan Krekorian. One and only piece of handcrafted „jewelry“, created by Dodo Newman, the Inspirationaliste. All Titanic Memorabilia have a special holographic and numbered sign on the right bottom corner.
Size: Year: Art category: Base: Materials:
100 cm x 50 cm 2012 Sculptural painting See through PlexiGlas surface Natural Pigments, SWAROVSKI crystal elements, transparent liquid Crystal Resin
Turkey
Mr. Neshan Krekorian Mr. Neshan Krekorian was born in the village of Keghi in May 12th 1886. He was 25 when he decided to emigrate to Canada with many of his fellow compatriots. When he decided to travel with the Titanic he was heading to Mr. Paul Martin in Hamilton, Ontario. Mr. Martin offered him a new home. Before the maiden travel he worked as a general labourer in his last residence in Abosknak, Turkey. Mr. Krekorian boarded the Titanic as a 3rd class passenger on Wednesday April 10th 1912 in Cherbourg. Later on a complaint remained from his travel about being “cooped up like chicken” in his third class cabin at F-deck. On the night of the sinking, after playing cards and going back to his bunk, Krekorian noticed that his porthole was left open. He noticed as he closed it that there was ice on the surface of the water, which was new for him. „Even though it was the first time in my life I had seen icebergs, I didn't think much of it because they were barely noticeable.“ - he said later. During the fatal accident Krekorian managed to get into Lifeboat 10 from Deck-A. He was lucky enough to jump into a lifeboat but many said that he deliberately saved himself. He survived the disaster although he caught pneumonia and was hospitalised in New York where he arrived on Thursday April 18th 1912.
As his son, George later recalled, Krekorian jumped from the Titanic to the icy water, near to lifeboat 10. He claimed that two men were fighting in lifeboat 10 and they both ended in the icy water. He climbed into the lifeboat when he saw the two spots open. This is why he got pneumonia because he had ice cold clothes and he had to wait for the rescue until next day. He helped row the boat away from the sinking of the Titanic. In New York City Neshan received enough money as a Titanic survivor from White Star and the Red Cross to continue his travel to Canada. Because of his pneumonia he had to be hospitalised later again in Brantford, Ontario for a couple of weeks. After moving to St. Catharines, Ontario in 1918, he married Persa Vartanian on July 12th 1924 and they had three children. Later on Krekorian looked for stability in his life and he worked all his life for General Motors on the Automobile Assembly line. His travel with the Titanic was his one and only time on a ship. Whenever he went anywhere near water, his daughter said: „His face betrayed his thoughts, he would gaze at the water, and instantly you knew he was reliving that night.“ He died on Sunday May 21st 1978 in St. Catharines, and he was buried at Victoria Lawn Cemetery.
On the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic his grandson, Van Solomonian said: „I don’t completely understand all the fascination over the Titanic tragedy, said Van. What I do know is that if my grandfather hadn’t survived, I would not be here. ... and I can’t help but wonder why he was blessed and so many others were not.“
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 126 dedicated to Mr. Neshan Krekorian. Back side of the Memorabilia.
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Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 678 dedicated to Mr. Francisco Mauro Severiano Carrau. One and only piece of handcrafted „jewelry“, created by Dodo Newman, the Inspirationaliste. All Titanic Memorabilia have a special holographic and numbered sign on the right bottom corner.
Size: Year: Art category: Base: Materials:
100 cm x 50 cm 2012 Sculptural painting See through PlexiGlas surface Natural Pigments, SWAROVSKI crystal elements, transparent liquid Crystal Resin
Uruguay
Mr. Francisco Mauro Severiano Carrau Francisco Mauro Severiano Carrau was born in November 8th 1884, in Departamento Montevideo, Uruguay from loving parents of Antonia Rovira and Pedro Carrau. When he was 27 years old he boarded the Titanic at Southampton as a first class passenger. In those times he was a resident of Montevideo, Uruguay and he travelled together with his nephew José Pedro Carraú-Esteves under the ticket number of 113059. Francisco Carrau, though very young, was an active member of the board of directors of one of Uruguay‘s traditional companies, Carrau & Co., well known importers and also in the maritime business (the company is still operating in Uruguay today). Instructions on business procedures, which he left when he died, were used well into the ‘50s.
According to family legend, when they went to board the ship, their cabin had not been allocated, so calmly but with confidence, Francisco looked for someone in authority and threatened to cause a tremendous fuss if the problem was not immediately rectified. The cabins were, apparently, quickly found. On the night of the sinking, Mr. Carrau and his nephew were observed by second class passenger (and survivor) Mr. Julian Padro y Manent standing with a fellow Uruguayan passenger, Mr Ramon Artagaveytia. They were also seen by first-class passenger Mr. Elmer Z. Taylor. Mr. Taylor and Mr. Padro y Manent's versions of events differ quite widely. While Mr. Padro y Manent reported the three men joking and relaxed, Mr. Taylor, who later escaped the wreck with his wife, clearly states that the Carraus were not joking about the situation and appeared quite alarmed. The two men died and their bodies were never recovered.
Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia Nr. 678 dedicated to Mr. Francisco Mauro Severiano Carrau. Back side of the Memorabilia.
Unexpected visitor The Titanic Commemorative Project was very dear for Dodo and not just because of the human aspect but also because of the dedication of it to her beloved grandmother Marta. On 18th December 2011, just one year before the centenary, Dodo received a very sad news: her beloved grandmother passed away in her 100th years of life. The news broke Dodo‘s heart because she was like a second mother for her, who was always there for her. Dodo was shocked and emotionally broken for many weeks also because her grandmother did not live to see the Commemoration project, which she dedicated for her and that she so much worked on in the past years. Dodo continued to create further memorabilia, going forward with the project even though she was in a huge emotional disturbance. She created these memorabilia in tears. Using toxic resin started to be very heavy and emotional for her. However life has its own mysterious intentions and ways and a new and unexpected visitor stepped into Dodo‘s life.
The last photo made with Dodo and her beloved grandmother, Marta (1912 - 2011).
While she was alive, Marta always told Dodo that she will be gifted with a child when Marta will be gone. A new life was conceived in December 2011, probably days before Marta passed away. The day in January 2012, when Dodo knew for sure that she was pregnant with Faye Martha, was when she first saw and heard her child‘s heartbeat at the doctor. This was the moment that Dodo knew that her child will definitely bring about many changes in her life. That same day that Dodo was confirmed to be pregnant, her doctor warned her not to continue to use resin as a toxic material and all other types of paints like oil, colour pigment powder, acrylic, terpentine, etc. because they can be harmful for the new life. Although in January 2012 Dodo temporarily stopped with her paintings, she did not stop with her aims and with continuing discussions with Swarovski to push further her Commemorative project. During her pregnancy she made only one exception, which was a very special piece created for HSH Princess Charlène, the Princess of Monaco.
Dodo with Faye Martha in 2012.
Selected artworks
Princely jewelry-artwork for Princess Charlène of Monaco
Period: 2012
Princely jewelry-artwork for Princess Charlène of Monaco Dodo Newman's passion are the stories behind each work she creates, her own life story as well as the story of the work itself. It is these stories that give value, credibility and that make these works live forever in time for the future.
Dodo also had a long time admiration for the Princely Family in Monaco since the time of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier III. She admired them for the love and passion they shared for each other even if they came from different and contrasting backgrounds.
After many years of researching and reading the various human aspects and life stories for the Titanic Commemorative Project, Dodo was truly fascinated with the beautiful South African story of the Brown family. She remembered that her grandmother Marta passed away in her 100th year, just like Edith Eileen Brown, South African passenger and survivor of the Titanic.
Just as Princess Charlène's mother, Lynette Wittstock who is an artist, Princess Grace also had a strong dedication to supporting the arts. She always believed that cultivation and training of emerging talent is essential to ensure sustained excellence in the arts. Dodo was traveling to and from Monaco for several times and she also delivered a Titanic Commemorative Memorabilia (Nr. 153) to HSH Princess Charlène of Monaco.
Although the selected Commemorative Titanic Memorabilia (Nr. 153) was not dedicated to a South African passenger, Dodo decided to create something unique for the Princess. In April 2012 Dodo started to design a very special commemorative artwork to celebrate the royal wedding of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and HSH Princess Charlène. Understanding the South African roots of the Princess she immediately linked it back to the Titanic project. At the time she decided to create something special for Princess Charlène to celebrate her love with Prince Albert with the thought of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier III as well. The marriage of Princess Charlène and Prince Albert was a great occasion for this work and in Dodo's mind she already saw that it will consist of two pieces that are actually one. For this reason she decided to cut the 3 meter long piece of PlexiGlas in half, representing the couple who belong together bonded by love. This is how the two complementary pieces came alive. The royal jewelry-artwork covered with diamonds is a celebration of love, birth and death with the Princess‘s favourite purple colours. The reflections of the water and the purple shades were also inspired by HSH Princess Charlène of Monaco. One side of the artwork is dedicated to Monaco and HSH Prince Albert II. This side is also a commemoration for Monaco’s forgotten hero, Roger Marie Bricoux as well. He was one of the legendary Titanic musicians, a brave cello player who never left the sinking ship. Roger Marie Bricoux played on his cello during the sinking of the Titanic.
„In 2009 I started a project to commemorate the passengers on the legendary ship Titanic and I realised that one of the brave musicians, Roger Marie Bricoux who played during the sinking of the Titanic orchestra, was from Monaco. I realised that although many people saw the Titanic movie by James Cameron not so many know about this very interesting fact. Therefore I decided to implement a little element to commemorate Monaco‘s forgotten hero as well.“ - Dodo Newman
The other part of the composition is dedicated to South Africa and HSH Princess Charlène. This side is a commemoration as well for the South African passengers of the ill-fated Titanic ship. The two pieces which complement each other, have a special wave cut in the middle of the composition, representing the endless ocean and the forever bonding love. Therefore the two complementary pieces fold together just as the „A“ and the „C“ in Her Serene Highness Princess Charlène and His Serene Highness Prince Albert II‘s dual cypher.
Dodo Newman with one part of the Princely jewelry-artwork. Courtesy of Ms Celina Lafuente de Lavotha
A peculiarity is that when Dodo started to create the jewelry-artwork, called „The Biggest Love Story“ she was four months pregnant. This was an element that added to the inner beauty and the uniqueness of the work. Dodo’s work was celebrated in many media, stating it as „the performance of priceless art transcendent value of the precious love“. It‘s amazing surface was also selected into the TOP 100 Ultra Luxury trends in 2013 (Nr 3.).
The reason why this jewelry-artwork is unique, is because it combines many elements into one. It represents many heightened elements to remember the most precious human values. The special piece includes two elements that symbolise love: diamonds and a coal from the Titanic. The coal symbolises our life that ends at one point. The coal is from the real legendary Titanic ship, which included thousands of love stories. Diamonds have come to symbolise our deepest hope for everlasting love, the one that Princess Grace and Prince Rainier III also shared. These two elements are part of our lives. The artwork was created to remember also the precious moments of the royal wedding. Besides the diamond surface there are also Swarovski crystal elements implemented in it, to remember Her Serene Highness Princess Charlène‘s Armani wedding dress.
„The jewelry-artwork composition represents many elements of life. The Diamonds represent life and glamour, the lines of Swarovski crystal elements symbolise the process of fertility, while the Titanic coal represents death. These symbolical elements represent our life stages and the mystical colour combination reflects our life.“ - Dodo Newman
Dodo hid an original Titanic coal from the ship wreck in both sides of the jewelry-artwork. These pieces of coal in each part are there to commemorate the passengers.
Interestingly, since Dodo was 4 months pregnant during the creation of this work when she implemented the diamonds in each sides of it, she wished the birth of a new life for HSH Princess Charlène as well.
The 100 years old coal pieces are encircled with 2 ct. diamonds that are symbols of renewal, rebirth and life.
Two years passed since the creation of the artwork and the news ran around the world like fire that the 36-year-old South African Princess was expecting twins to deliver in December 2014. Princess Charlène gave birth to HSH Prince Jacques Honoré Rainier and HSH Princess Gabriella Thérèse Marie in December 10th 2014.
Even if all the colours, the reflections of the water and the purple shades were inspired by Her Serene Highness Princess Charlène, the royal jewelry-artwork encapsulates the undoubtable message that death, roots, life and birth are all part of us especially with a folding and forever bonding love.
Dodo’s prediction from 2012 came into reality.
„I created The Biggest Love Story artwork while being 4 months pregnant in 2012 and all I wished is the beauty of parenthood for the Princess as well. 2 years passed by since then and seeing the beautiful photos of Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, as well as the proud and caring parents my heart feels immense joy for them. What a beautiful family!“ - Dodo Newman
Courtesy & Copyrights: Prince‘s Palace of Monaco
Selected artworks
Re-birth of Art series
Period: 2014
Awakening In the spring of 2014 the artistic feelings started to awaken in Dodo. Almost two years have past since her daughter Faye Martha was born in August 2012, and Dodo was ready to follow the journey of art again.
The space and air was something that always excited her, and she remembered what her master said about her born talent and gift to paint depths of the space on canvas.
Driven by new inspirations and visions she turned her artistic focus to the space.
In the same year she also opened her art studio for the public in Berlin’s most wealthiest district, on the street of Kurfßrstendamm.
Turner‘s storm Acrylic and oil on canvas 100 cm x 120 cm (39.3 inch x 47.2 inch) 2014
Swirl Acrylic and oil on canvas 120 cm x 100 cm each (47.2 inch x 39.3 inch) 2014
Supernova I. Acrylic and oil on canvas 120 cm x 160 cm (47.2 inch x 63 inch) 2014 Privately owned in Germany
Supernova II. Acrylic, gold foil and oil on canvas 160 cm x 120 cm (63 inch x 47.2 inch) 2014
Light shining through the atmosphere Acrylic and oil on canvas 160 cm x 120 cm (63 inch x 47.2 inch) 2014
Falling through layers Acrylic and oil on canvas 160 cm x 120 cm (63 inch x 47.2 inch) 2014 Privately owned in Germany
Seen and unseen Acrylic and oil on canvas 120 cm x 100 cm (47.2 inch x 39.3 inch) 2014 Privately owned in Germany
Life marks of the Heart Paper, acrylic and oil on canvas 100 cm x 120 cm (39.3 inch x 47.2 inch) 2014 Privately owned in Germany
Selected artworks
Milestone artworks
Artistic Periods in Dodo Newman‘s life Dodo‘s life can be compared to a train, a train that has various stops, so called stations. These stations reflect not only the cities, countries that Dodo has visited and where she has lived in but they represent the periods that had major effects on her art as well. These effects have formed and have shaped the life of Dodo, they helped her in her path ahead and made her learn from the challenges of life. Continuous struggle and revelation, perhaps these two words are the ones that really reflect Dodo‘s life and they are the best words that represent the power that made her fly to the heights where she is at right now. „There were many periods of my life when I had nothing to eat, when I was hungry. Most of these times the persons I most expected to stand by me were the ones who did not. It is usually very hard to achieve an objective without the background support of the family, especially if there is no one who appreciates the aim one is fighting for.“ „In life anything we create is a long process, taking time. It is impossible to expect from anyone to achieve them immediately. When I was a teenager once I have given up my dreams and I needed more than 15 years to find them again. Now that I have found them I will never let them go!“ Dodo‘s talent and feeling for art became clear already at an early age, at the age of 13 she showed a bravour for drawing, which is reflected in her pastel drawings, sketches. The drawing that is most dear to her from this period is the one she made of Marlene Dietrich, whom she admired at her age, in an antique photo style.
„For me the possibility to draw continuously was very important just as to be able to show my own creativity. Fashion design is a structured and almost industrial design world, this was not really me so I broke with it.“ - Dodo Newman
Dodo’s art following the portrait she made of Marlene Dietrich made a break for more than 15 years. Upon family and other pressures she broke with fine art and moved instead towards fashion design. During Dodo‘s studies in Florence, Italy she realised that fashion design is not the profession where she can widen her own creativity.
Marlene Dietrich Pastell on paper 34.5 cm x 49 cm (13.6 inch x 19.3 inch) 1987
Lobo Pastell on paper 34.5 cm x 49 cm (13.6 inch x 19.3 inch) 1987
After Italy Dodo‘s life lead to England, from which period she did not practice art until the age of 28, when the world of colours found her again. „I have tried and experienced with many techniques and materials, so I have worked and painted on canvas, wood, glass. I was searching continuously for the right way, which would bring back my forgotten Being.“ The doors of the emotional prison opened up and flying on the wings of freedom Dodo started on the way towards art.
„One day I was alone at home in my working space and led by a flying thought I started to paint with my thumb. I was embraced by a totally euphorical feeling and I did not even realize that the hours were just flying around me. This is when the work “Silence on the sea” was born, which was the first artwork that let my feelings fly freely.“
Silence on the sea Oil on wooden panel 2005 Privately owned in The Principality of Monaco
Dodo’s art became targeted by many critics since she never gained any official diploma from it. Guided by an instant idea Dodo became the pupil of Jozsef Burkus artist, who so became her master. She spent altogether 3 months with József Burkus, learning new techniques, ways of using colours and tools. „When Jozsef Burkus saw my paintings, he realised immediately that there is yet a lot of things for me to learn and to try, but there was something that he felt in me and saw as an instinctive way and feeling in all my works: he saw that I can represent space. As he described this ability, it is something very hard to learn because this is something that comes from within, as an instinctive way of doing art.“ „Perhaps during the third occasion that I was at my master, he suggested me to discover my own style. I asked him how this is possible and he just smiled at me and then whispered the way to do it in my ears.“
„That day I went home and took out a bottle of wine, I prepared myself a wooden panel and my painting tools. I opened the wine and drank until I felt a pleasant feeling, almost a state of unconsciousness and at this point I started to paint. I do not remember the process exactly, but this is when the work „Cobra“ was born. The Cobra was my very first real abstract painting and at the same time it became a symbol as well. A new era has began…“ The Cobra was a breakthrough in the art of Dodo because from here a straight line led from the figural and realistic world to the abstract world full of imaginations and magic.
„Again the Cobra throws back her head and looks into the Sun and sees great brightness outside and inside. But then she sees that the lights are colours and there is no black or white among them. However the Sun is surrounded by the darkness. The Cobra is wise, she stays in the centre of the light. Moveless… seemingly. Somewhere on the white forehead an eye opens. Invisible. The Cobra throws back her head, rises with dignity slowly towards the Sun. She does not say farewell to anyone not even her friends, she has to go alone on her journey towards the light years of the Sun galaxy.“ - Jozsef Burkus‘s poem of Dodo Newman
Cobra Oil on wooden panel 42 cm x 50 cm (16.5 inch x 19.7 inch) 2006
The first abstract work after the Cobra was „The Beginning“ where it is obvious that Dodo broke totally with all figural elements in her art. However this was not enough for Dodo, who is always experimenting and searching for new things, and so she was continuously looking for new techniques. In the meantime the number of her abstract artworks was increasing.
„I was very happy to paint and work freely but I wanted to start and find new ways in my art, new challenges. My way in life and in art has never been the same as what the majority does, my way has always been and still is all that is unique and special.“
The Beginning Oil on wooden panel 60 cm x 40 cm (23.6 inch x 15.7 inch) 2006 Privately owned in Germany
In the following years Dodo experimented with a new technique with which she worked on PlexiGlas and with natural resin. „It was a truly big challenge for me because I was working with a highly flammable material, and in the beginning there were several times when my studio caught fire.“ The new technique brought all the expected results and high quality, new artworks were born. The finished PlexiGlas works were already a step ahead than just simple artworks, since they began to be used as interior solutions. A new and wider spectrum opened up in front of Dodo.
„I immensely love to work with this technique until this present day, since all artworks have two sides because of the PlexiGlas’s unique material. These two sides play wonderful games with the light, so the various works give very different effects during daytime or during night. This is the technique that makes my art more playful and more free too.“
In the year of 2008 a new city appeared in Dodo‘s life: Berlin in Germany. „I had a thought that Berlin is a tolerant, open and free city and also it is to become the centre of art in Europe. So I thought this city might keep some surprises and new inspirations for me.“ „When I first arrived to Berlin it was very difficult to start everything all by myself, and of course there were so many things to discover too. Naturally there were some favourite places that I started to prefer, however most of my days were about working from morning to night.“
„The difficulties of life found me here too and I had to realise that my existing partners and collectors cannot follow me so I started to look for new possibilities.“ „My abstract painting was heading in a fantastic way but I felt that the „place“ I was working in was getting small. This is when I finished my last work here „Dream“ and I started to realise my new Art Studio.“
Dream Acrylic and oil on canvas 180 cm x 160 cm (70.9 inch x 63 inch) 2009
In 2009 Dodo found a new Art Studio in Berlin in the area of Oberschöneweide. The Art Studio was situated in a historical, industrial area, which was under continuous development. In this new Art Studio Dodo had a 1,400 sqm big space for working. „For me it was very important to be able to receive my Clients in a high level environment and also to be able to work in a huge, inspiring space.“ Dodo's Atelier was in an exciting part of Berlin full of industrial history. When Dodo found her ideal place for her Atelier she chose it with future plans for future developments. It was an ideal place with ideal inspirations for Dodo to continue the Titanic Commemorative Centenary project she envisioned as a dedication to her grandmother already in 2009.
Making a difference...
Early ups and downs - The Breakthrough The path of discovery brought both many struggles to face and many challenges to overcome as well as moments and periods of immense joy. Dodo kept on challenging the obstacles and improving her visions and innovations. She knew she would arrive to the point of breakthrough. There is a long and real story behind each and every person who has reached his or her dreams.
Inspiration: breathing in, breathing out...the air, feelings, emotions, affection, desire, joy, love = Life!
Every step, falling, sadness, fight, victory forms a part to the final aim: praise your mistakes, your struggle! You need all of them for the final story.
Our Soul knows more than what we think or believe...
„Uniqueness comes hand in hand with a life path, with the circle of birth and death and with the time and patience that is dedicated to create something new, with the persistence to make a dream come true. Everything comes from Passion, Persistence and Belief.“
Dodo was always a self-made person, which was especially true with her art. Her artistic career, journey was never supported by anyone around her. Still she achieved her life long dream to be a creator, an artist, an Inspirationaliste: inspiring, innovating and creating. She continuously sought her way to the light even in her darkest periods. Notwithstanding the challenges and scars Dodo found power in herself to continue dreaming and creating, inspiring other people even when at times she thought all was lost. The contrasts and different life
experiences have given her the force to breakthrough her own limitations and to achieve life transformations. Dodo‘s first visible breakthrough was her co-operation with SWAROVSKI. It represented for her a true step ahead, marking her artistic path of unique creations.
The Inspirationaliste Inspiration is the process of breathing in the air, the most vital thing that keeps us alive. For Dodo to inspire others is like this most vital thing in Life. Dodo aims at inspiring people to love, to hate, to think or see things in a different way, to dare to do something they never thought about before. Inspiring people to feel and be free for a moment, for an hour, for a time being from their every day and usual way of life. To stop for an instant and feel different for that moment in time. By being an Inspirationaliste Dodo inspires People and Artists to aim at achieving their dreams no matter what they are, just by believing in them until the very end.
„I believe in the Good. My Soul is guided by my inner energies that have to manifest themselves through my art and will never fade. The word I gave to describe Myself and my Life Inspirationaliste was born after I decided to be true to my deepest desires. It was a way for me to express my detachment from all that is usual, expected from me and to be true to my own path.“
„I chose art to change people and to make them see and feel things differently. I chose writing and speaking to make other people believe in their dreams again, to inspire them to dare to imagine again. I continuously innovate materials, views, beliefs to challenge the existing and to bring about change, proving that there is a huge richness of „otherness“ beyond our limitations, when we step out and start to explore.“
Dodo Newman with Ivor Alex (Monaco Business Society)
Speaking engagements Dodo was one of the key speaker of the Monaco Business Society. Her visions delivered a great impact during her speech at the Club des Residents Etrangers a Monaco. Dodo‘s speech was intended for business owners, leaders in the Principality of Monaco. The speech’s theme was about „Thinking outside the box“, how art can inspire business activities and entrepreneurs, leaders, owners to expand their visions and challenge other areas outside their limits of the routine and usual daily work. In 2013 Dodo amazed the International University of Monaco, Luxury course with a session held on „Out of the Box Innovation“. Her session included topics such as The reality of Success, Excuses versus Performance, Aim and its Realization, Obstacles and Challenging them, Fear, Motivating others, Joint forces, Breakthrough during the realization of our dreams, aims. Bringing life experiences into her sessions and other speeches held in Berlin, Germany as well, Dodo highlights the point throughout that all dreams can become reality no matter how big the waves are in front of us.
„I present the „out of the box“ side of investment and business philosophy, based on my life experiences with real time examples lived through my own phases of life instead of just pure theories. I always introduce the different sides of thinking and artistic creations. I usually use contemporary art in my examples because they can move the imagination as well as deliver a huge potential and high values.“ „Part of being an „out of the box“ person is about experiencing things that cannot be learned behind the school desks and from books. The hard and yet rich experiences have formed me into a very open minded person. They have given me the gift of fully understanding the source of different cultures. Based on this experience guided knowledge I challenge business and personal philosophies.” - Dodo Newman
Internationally published author Dodo is also an internationally published author of the „Out of the Box Innovation“ book. The book is a collection of her session held at the International University of Monaco, MBA Luxury course. The main subject is intended to innovators, visionaries, creators in their fields of area, how the path leads to breakthrough and success and to the realization of their dreams. The subject is dear to Dodo because it is based on her own real life experiences, which make it real and personal as well.
„Since we are talking about real life experiences it happens often that we find excuses for not achieving our success or aims. There is always an excuse for the very first steps, mostly it is that we need first money especially to create Luxury. Excuse = The easy way But the first step is about stopping to find excuses and to focus on what steps we can actually take. The very important thing is to take the very first steps, they do not have to be huge, extreme ones. An excuse is worse than a mistake because it effects everything around us and drains down all possible solutions. There is always a way, a wrong way ahead is much better than a no way at all anywhere... I have met people in very high positions with high responsibilities who put more energy, time and money into finding and creating excuses to their non performances than to convert that energy, time and money into finding a solution, a possible way or at least to take any kind of step ahead.” - quote from “Out of the Box Innovation“ book.
Creator, Innovator Aesthetic and technical side, creating and invention are both elements that are important for Dodo. Dodo is always experimenting and searching for new things, she is continuously looking for new techniques, materials and ways to use them. An innovator is someone who reimagines, who goes beyond the seen and already experimented, experienced things, who will forever push the boundaries, inspired by continuous curiosity. Whatever the reimagined vision is, it forever expands and always has an impact on other fields as well.
„I started as an abstract expressionist artist. There are ten-thousands of artists creating abstract expressionist styles, so I had to find out a way I would be remembered and stand out from this incredible crowd. Since I did not want to change my style, I decided that I will start to experiment a new artistic technique. It took me a 9 years long trip but I finally experimented the resin based art. With my resin technique I managed to change the simple abstract art, it was the first resin on PlexiGlas used with an original and unique process. People started to remember me as the creator who makes resin pieces. People recognized me because I was able to challenge the existing and to combine it with some new and innovative way. Therefore I became the very first resin artist.“
„What I learnt through my innovations, visions is that you have to continuously change, you never get it 100% done but you will always change it into something new and something different. Life always helps if you keep your focus on your innovation and keep on making steps. The key is not to loose our focus from our dreams. You cannot loose until you keep on trying, you loose only when you stop trying.“
„I was very happy to paint and work freely but I wanted to start and find new ways in my art, new challenges. My way in life and in art has never been the same as what the majority does, my way has always been and is unique and special.“
A unique Watch - The Desire Collection When Dodo realised that her unique resin technique used in her art creations is different than the usual, it did not stop her in going further in her imagination to discover other fields. Being someone who continuously has new visions and desire to realise them, she discovered that there are no boundaries in applying the material to extremely new areas where design, luxury and aesthetics are at the same time essential features. The unique concept to apply her technique for the surface of a watch dial was born out of her passion for art and expertise, and to extend her desire to those who appreciate and share this passion for rare and individual materials. The real value is in the innovation and luxury combining a brand new element, moulding it for an ultra-luxury timepiece, which has never been manufactured before. The imagination is endless and Dodo‘s aims are to extend her vision to other areas as well, to see her unique material in other fields of luxury and beauty.
The dial‘s surface is envisioned to be a unique cut from the remains of the special Royal artwork partly owned by HSH Princess Charlène of Monaco („The Biggest Love Story“ artwork). The Royal related jewelry-artwork was selected in to the TOP 100 Ultra-Luxury items (Nr. 3) in the world (January 2014). The ultimate aim, to celebrate Life and Love in one masterpiece is well extended in the vision of the limited pieces of the Desire Collection. The surface of the Desire Collection is visioned to be unique, one and only for each timepiece. Every watch is pictured as an individual state of art in itself, representing a one of a kind collectors’ item.
The Story behind the Desire Collection „This is my true story, driven by a dream to make my way to the Princess of Monaco and to create two very unique projects to commemorate love and birth.
I definitely moved out my comfort zone. I remember back in January 2012 when I decided to go up to the Prince’s Palace of Monaco because I had a dream to give a Titanic memorabilia to HSH Princess Charlène of Monaco herself. Of course everyone around me thought I will never make it and then asked the same question: „am I stupid?“. Everyone told me it is impossible to just just go up to the Palace. There is a hard protocol, formalities, official procedures and of course one has to ask for an appointment. Even my friend who is a fashion designer and a resident in Monaco since many years could not arrange to meet with the Princess. So why did I dream and decide to make it happen? Because I thought I have nothing to loose by trying, and it is exactly the crazy things that work. Life is about movement, about trying out different things, taking risks and taking up new challenges. Things that are stagnant and stick to the status quo eventually disappear. Therefore I decided not to wait for something magical to happen but to go for it and to enjoy the movement of life. In the following days I was driving to Monaco with a rented big Mercedes and my Titanic memorabilia in the trunk.
I knew that foreign cars are not allowed to enter Monaco-Ville, which is the area leading up to the hill, where the Prince’s Palace of Monaco stands tall. As expected, the security guard immediately stopped me at the bottom of the hill. Was I so crazy to start my journey and to drive 1300 km for my aim? Perhaps so, but at the same time I had a strong gut feeling that I will get through the obstacles. I told the security guard that I am bringing a gift specially for the Princess all the way from Berlin, Germany. He seemed confused because it was so unusual, he never met anything like this before that someone just "drops in” at the Prince’s Palace of Monaco. Probably because of this the security guard, after some discussions with his colleagues up in the Palace, allowed my journey to continue up to my final destination. Once by the main entrance of the Palace I was confronted with the second obstacle. Arriving to the Palace the guards stopped me and I had to explain my intent. My desire was such and also the gift was so unique that the concierge helped me to reach the private secretary of the Princess who was open to meet with me. Later during my future visits to the Palace she also gave me a private tour and I had the chance to see even the work place of Princess Charlène. My mission was accomplished.
What worked once will work twice as well…
It was a taboo to talk about it…
A few weeks later I got a surprise e-mail from the Prince’s Palace of Monaco which started a communication. During my visits to the Palace I also got to know that the favourite colour of the Princess is purple, which made me think of something new.
Just one year ago it was a very delicate subject to talk or write about the pregnancy of the Princess and also to ask questions about the heirs of the throne of Monaco. Even local journalists denied to write about the topic.
During that time I was four months pregnant with my baby girl Faye Martha, but I decided to create something special for the Princess. I envisioned a 3 meter long diamond and Swarovski crystal elements covered artwork. It became an artwork full of symbolic elements whereby I first split it into two halves and then I hid many interesting materials in it.
It was disappointing for me that one of the most beautiful commemoration of the Princely wedding was removed from its display with various reasons. The diamond covered piece referred to as „the performance of priceless art transcendent value of the precious love“ included symbolic elements of fertility, of new life as a prediction for the birth and right after two days of its public viewing in December 2013 it was taken off.
I put two original Titanic coals in it from the ship wreck which represented the past. I placed thousands of Swarovski crystal elements in it, representing the light and stars of our life. And I also placed diamonds in it, representing the hope of new life that brings changes to us. The concept was ready in my head but I knew that I wanted to do something special. Understanding the Princess’s passion for swimming and water, I decided to create a special wave cut that separates the artwork into two pieces. It became the symbol of many elements, such as the loving bond of the Royal couple, the Monaco and South African bond, as well as the projection of two children in their life. When the artwork was ready I decided to go up again to the Palace, taking one half of it up with myself. That was the time when people started to refer to me as „The “Craziest” person in Monaco”. On my next trip to Monaco I was even more confident than in the previous ones and I managed to deliver my gift.
I did not give up on my vision even at this point and I decided to follow my dreams even more.
From my desire: The Desire Collection In January 2014 the surface I created on the Royal artwork was selected into the TOP 100 Ultra Luxury trends in 2013 and this triggered my next vision. I envisioned the Desire Collection as a 13 limited, ultra-luxury watch which transmits the desire for elegance, ultra-luxury and „living the fairytale“ contained in a sparkling and glamorous surface, offering changing shades with the play of different light and shadows. The vision is that there are no two surfaces of the Desire Collection that match. They are unique because the dial‘s surface is planned as a unique cut from the remains of exactly the same artwork that I created and gave to Princess Charlène. One vision and dream triggered the next one.
Time did prove my „craziness“ Almost two years passed by since my prediction and the Prince and the Princess became proud parents of their new born twins. Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella arrived, reminding me of the importance of the new in our lives and of the courage that moves us to go beyond our comfort zones. On my journey to Monaco I got so many „STOP“ signs, people with limitations even from those close to me. But when you have a deep desire and you do not give up, have passion for it and know it belongs to only you deep inside, then even the craziest ideas have their potential for great success. For me success is not about the material part but about the spiritual journey that this one too has given me. I need not explain my dreams, my passion, my life because it is only this way that I can share it with others. Because each life is unique in its journey and we take with ourselves all that we have learned internally. I have learnt that to find my breakthrough points I had to trust only in myself and I had to not loose my human side on this road.
The Desire Collection - I was pregnant... There is a Monaco related twist in the Desire Collection. A peculiarity is that when I started to create the jewelry-artwork called "The Biggest Love Story" as a commemoration for the Royal wedding and the forever bonding love of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II and his beloved wife Her Serene Highness Princess Charlène of Monaco I was few months pregnant. This was an element that added to the inner beauty and the uniqueness of the work. The various shades of purple is a significant choice since it is the favourite colour of HSH Princess Charlène.
When I realised that my unique resin technique used in my art creations is different than the usual, it did not stop me in going further in my imagination to discover other fields. Being someone who continuously has new visions and desire to realise them, I discovered that there are no boundaries in applying the material to extremely new areas where design, luxury and aesthetics are at the same time essential features. The unique concept to apply my technique for the surface of a watch dial was born out of my passion for art, and to extend to those who appreciate and share this passion for rare and individual materials. The real value is in the innovation and luxury combining a brand new element, moulding it for an ultra-luxury timepiece, which has never been manufactured before. The surface of the Desire Collection is unique, one and only for each timepiece. Every watch is envisioned as an individual state of art in itself. They represent a one of a kind collectors’ item. There is no two surface of the Desire Collection that would match, they are unique because of the original provenance of the related collectible item that has been chosen in to the Top of the Ultra-luxury world. Because of the crystallised cut from the original piece of material for the surface, which is a piece of art in itself, each Desire Collection timepiece is envisioned to have a unique and unrepeatable surface, as its own individual DNA. This is what places the Desire Collection Ultraluxury watch to the level of rarity and collectibles.“
Interior elements Dodo‘s thoughts about including art in the spaces people live, work and move around is captured in her quote: „Something unique and extravagance behind the border of art…“ Dodo’s interior elements are specially created and customized for those, who are looking for something unique that go beyond the borders of art, as it is generally believed.
Dodo works and uses her unique technique for the creations of special interiors. The PlexiGlas works represent her specialty and reflect high standard value as well as very particular visual effects. The PlexiGlas creations, which can include programmed lightening effects can be used, showed and enhanced in a wide spectrum of spaces from the hotel industry to luxury villas, interiors and other living and working spaces. Enhanced effect is created by using resin, natural pigments and many other elements. With the combination of glass surface, coloured pigments and LED lights Dodo is able to reach magical effects.
„An art piece could be more than just a simple picture on the wall, it could be a wide-range interior element as well... Art is more than just an object, it is a feeling. Art is a Lifestyle which reflects our personality our views towards Life.“
„I create various exceptional and challenging orders. I specially admire and find inspirational the big spaces with lots of game of lights and shadows. The most interesting projects are the ones that are on-site, where freedom is given to create more spaces for wonderful elements. Nothing is impossible, the limit is only the Imagination…“
Day &
Night
effect
Dreams that Inspire Dodo inspires people with her dreams, visions, art, her life path experiences and overall approach to it. Already when she was a child, when she remained with her father alone in India, she was motivated to turn to her dreams. She grew up with stories from all over the world that allowed her spirit to accept differences and to dare to dream, she read all the books from which she got the power to imagine and she started to draw whenever she could to express her childhood visions, to share them with others throughout her travels and change of homes. Since then Dodo cannot live without dreams, without her imagination, without holding her visions and making them into realities. „Nothing is impossible, the limit is only the imagination…“ is Dodo‘s favourite saying, based on her own life experiences. Dodo is inspired by the contrasts, the differences leading to the quest for discovery as they give birth to new ideas and new creations. This is part of the journey, there is no new vision without the contrast and the diversities that are fuelled by life experiences.
„I have lived in multi cultural and very contrasting parts of the world from India, Iran, Italy, UK, Hungary, Monaco and Germany where I have experienced the beauty of differences and contrasts. Although I have seen and experienced extreme poverty, dictatorship, oppression of freedom, communism, injustice I have always believed in the very essence of the good and the power of change through our own imagination and dreams.“
„Dreams are my fuel, my imagination is never limited. In my imagination I can be and become whoever I want to be.“
„Living the dreams is an inner journey because before anyone can actually see them, one must be able to see and live them within themselves. It is only through this journey of self discovery that one finds the real treasure, which is within ourselves. Our imagination is incredibly powerful, if only we believe in them...“
Very Special Thanks! Present Portfolio is sponsored by Edit & Stefan Buder www.buder-allfinanz.de
Very Special Thanks! to Faye
Martha
For many years I got my inspiration from Love and Contrast. In 2012 I received a gift from Life, a new source of inspiration, my daughter Faye Martha. My dear Faye you are the most beautiful gift in my life. You gave me each and every day the miracle of unconditional love.
to Zsolt
Szemerszky
Thank you my dear friend for the continuous support and motivation you have given to me from the very first day on my road of art. You have not only been on this road to share with me moments of joy, inspiration and creativity but you have also uplifted me when I felt lost on this road, and have held the torch of light to guide me back. Your strong faith and trust in Me and my artistic Being was often my strength to my own dreams.
to Aline
M端ller
My dearest friend Aline, thank you for believing in me and in my art throughout the years no matter whether there was light or darkness. You are a true friend of mine!
to J贸zsef
Burkus
Thank you J贸zsef for discovering the artist, creator in me and for opening my eyes towards abstract art. Even if we spent a short period of time together in your studio, I took with me many treasures I learned from you on my journey.
to Steffe Sch枚nlau Parafunk photo L A B I appreciate your energies spent on making the photos of the Titanic Memorabilia artworks. Thank you!
to Edit & Stefan
Buder
I would like to say a very special thank you to Edit & Stefan Buder who both believed in my art from the very first moment that they met with it, and offered me to make this beautiful portfolio with my selected works. Thank you for appreciating my Art!
For further inquiry Dodo Newman The Inspirationaliste For further inquiry:
dodonewman@inspirationaliste.com info@dodonewman.com Read more about Dodo:
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Legal disclaimer All the articles and writings presented in Dodo Newman’s Artistic Portfolio are related to her personal life and biography. The presented stories and articles are partly collected from publicly available third party sources, public press releases and content which are part of the public knowledge. During the creation of present artistic portfolio, no copyright infringement were intended. All articles and photos are related to the works of Dodo Newman and they represent public knowledge and/or creative commons. Present artistic portfolio is not a substitute for independent art professionals, art investment or legal advice. Present artistic portfolio serves as Dodo Newman’s interpretation of her personal life and views, without specific advice on any personal or corporate requirements. Use of any information from this artistic portfolio or any other artistic portfolio or web site referred to is for general information only and does not represent advice either expressed or implied. If you are aiming to invest into art you are encouraged to seek professional, legal or investment advice. Accordingly, Dodo Newman, her publishers and affiliates disclaim that the information provided should not be treated as advice. Dodo Newman or publishers shall not be held liable for any losses incurred by anyone who follows or acts on the opinions, views, or forecasts expressed in any form in this artistic portfolio, on any other websites or from individuals connected by hyperlink to or from Dodo Newman’s website. Anyone reading this book is solely responsible for their interpretation of its contents and for their own decisions and actions.