Strategi Mempertahankan Peringkat Teratas Di Google
Sebagian besar artikel SEO yang beredar di ranah maya hanya mengulas tentang cara pemilihan kata kunci yang benar atau bagaimana cara mendapatkan peringkat teratas di Google. Namun apa yang harus Anda lakukan setelah situs Anda berada di posisi pertama? Apakah Anda hanya diam dan menikmati semua keuntungan setelah mendapatkan ranking tersebut? Atau Anda akan lebih proaktif untuk me-maintain ranking itu agar posisi Anda tidak melorot? Suka atau tidak, berada di urutan teratas bukan berarti aksi SEO Anda selesai.Menambah “linkability” untuk memperkuat posisi Anda
Seperti telah Anda ketahui, pada dasarnya SEO berbicara banyak tentang konten yang bagus dan inbound link. Jika Anda secara konsisten terus melakukan pengembangan pada kedua subjek ini, bisa dipastikan situs Anda bakal terus berada di posisi terhormat. Kenyataannya, Anda harus terus menambah linkability dari ranking page. Jika Anda sudah berada di urutan teratas untuk pencarian kata kunci yang populer, maka mendapatkan banyak traffic adalah reward yang sepadan. Yang harus Anda lakukan adalah mendorong natural link untuk berada di daftar teratas. Banyak orang yang mempercayai search ranking Google, jadi mereka akan mencari untuk menemukan sumber untuk dijadikan link (misalkan para blogger). Tugas Anda adalah mengembangkan linkability untuk membuktikan ke semua orang bahwa robot Google tidak melakukan kesalahan saat mereka memilih situs Anda untuk berada di posisi pertama. Berikut beberapa caranya:
- Kembangkan dan perbaiki desain situs Anda
- Perluas konten Anda dan buat topik yang paling dicari orang (sesuatu yang tidak bisa ditemukan di situs lain)
- Buang iklan-iklan yang bersifat sementara. Pasti Anda ingin mem-monetize situs, namun para ahli meyakini bahwa terlalu banyak iklan akan mematikan link. Jadi batasi iklan sampai Anda mendapatkan link baru.
Aggressively seek out links
Sekali Anda sudah berada di top ranking untuk beberapa kata kunci, Anda bisa mempengaruhi posisi Anda dengan memperbanyak link. Semisal, link ke wikipedia yang berhubungan dengan konten Anda akan memberi banyak keuntungan. Anda juga bisa menghubungi blogger-blogger dan meminta mereka menghubungkan blognya dengan situs Anda, khususnya jika ada konten yang berkaitan dengan isi situs Anda. Lihat peluang untuk menambah link meskipun link tersebut hanya sebuah postingan pada blog, artikel marketing atau yang lainnya.
Optimize click through rates & conversion
Apa Anda sudah memaksimalkan keuntungan menjadi yang teratas di search engine? Ada beberapa cara efisien untuk mengembangkan klik di kurs dan konversi.
Click through rates
Kendati sudah ada di peringkat pertama belum menjamin situs Anda memiliki jumlah visitor yang sama setiap hari. Namun Anda masih bisa mengembangkan dan menambah jumlah klik di situs Anda dengan melakukan langkah-langkah berikut:
- Title tags – ini adalah teks bolded link yang Anda lihat di halaman hasil pencarian. Coba tambahkan simbol seperti “*” atau “->” pada awal untuk menarik perhatian. Atau Anda bisa bermain dengan title text untuk mengetahui minat para penari. Misalkan Anda dapat memendekkan judul untuk menyesuaikan dengan search query atau sebaliknya Anda bisa membuatnya menjadi lebih panjang dengan menambahkan kata-kata yang menarik seperti: Baca Ini Terlebih Dahulu! Title tag adalah merupakan faktor terpenting dalam SEO, jadi pilih kata kunci yang paling baik. Camkan dalam benak Anda bahwa search engine membutuhkan beberapa hari atau beberapa minggu untuk beradaptasi dengan perubahan yang telah Anda lakukan. Jangan merubah terlalu banyak atau terlalu sering jika tidak ingin peringkat situs Anda turun.
- Meta Description – Saat Google melakukan perubahan tergantung pada apa saja yang dicari, Anda dapat menentukan pilihan dengan memasukkan tag meta description ke head section halaman Anda. Masukan dalam kalimat yang deskriptif dengan target keyword Anda dan coba tarik perhatian orang atau buat mereka penasaran dengan kalimat tersebut.
Conversion rates
Anda sudah ada di nomer 1 sekarang dan para pencari akan mengklik langsung ke situs Anda. Lalu apa? Istilahnya, Anda ingin mereka melakukan apa yang Anda inginkan di situs Anda. Baik itu mendaftar untuk mendapatkan newsletter, mengklik sebuah iklan, atau membeli produk atau layanan yang Anda sediakan. Ambil keuntungan dari traffic yang ada dengan secara konstan menjajal hal apa saja yang bekerja dengan baik atau tidak di situs Anda. Contohnya, apakah tombol orang mengkonversi lebih baik ketimbang yang hijau. Coba, coba dan coba adalah tiga kata terbaik yang bisa Anda lakukan. Di samping melakukan uji terpisah, Anda juga dapat menggunakan layanan seperti ServiceEgg untuk mengetahui apa saja yang paling sering diklik oleh user.
Expand on ranking opportunities
Ranking nomer 1 di Google memang sangat baik, namun ada peluang untuk lebih dilihat oleh orang. Apa saja? Lakukan investigasi dan riset kata kunci secara menyeluruh dan lebih mendetail lalu kembangkan kata kunci tersebut. Misalnya kata kunci Anda adalah “mebel kayu” maka Anda bisa mengembangkannya menjadi “mebel kayu dijual di Jakarta.” Langkah tersebut juga akan meningkatkan ranking Anda untuk kata kunci yang lebih bervariasi dan sepesifik. Jangan hanya terfokus pada 1 kata kunci saja. Sebagai tambahan, Anda bisa menambahkan halaman lain dalam list. Jika Anda memiliki 2 ranking pada hasil pencarian di search engine apa pun, maka Google akan menaikkan peringakt halaman kedua tersebut ke bawah halaman yang berada di urutan teratas. Contohnya, Anda memiliki situs yang ada di posisi pertama dan ranking 10 untuk kata kunci yang digunakan pada nama domain yang sama. Maka Google secara otomatis akan mendongkrak halaman yang ada di posisi ke 10 menjadi ke dua. Itulah pentingnya membuat halaman lain yang berhubungan dengan kata kunci Anda.
Future–proof your SEO ranking
Kendati sudah di SEO namun posisi situs Anda sangat rapuh dan mudah berubah sebagai imbas dari perubahan algoritma yang berdasarkan pada teknologi baru dan trend. Jadi apa yang bisa Anda lakukan? Kuncinya adalah memproteksi SEO dengan membangun kampanye Anda dengan lebih baik lagi. Mengeksploitasi berbagai cara denga menggunakan trik-trik tertentu mungkin bisa bekerja dengan baik saat sekarang. Namun hasil yang sama belum tentu Anda dapatkan nanti. Perkuat diri Anda sekarang, dan dapatkan keuntungannya belakangan. Masih dalam bagian konten yang baik dan link berkualitas, berikut beberapa hal yang akan dicari oleh search engine untuk mendeterminasi sebuah situs.
- Traffic/user engagement – Google memiliki banyak informasi berkaitan dengan perilaku pengguna. Dan hanya masalah waktu sebelum mereka menggunakan hal tersebut untuk mempengaruhi search ranking. Bangun sebuah situs yang populer dan mampu memenuhi kebutuhan pengguna, maka tarffic akan datang ecara natural.
- Branding – CEO Google mengatakan bahwa brand akan membersihkan kesalahan-kesalahan informasi yang ada di internet.jangan hanya membangun situs generik yang bisa digantikan dalam SERP. Misalnya, sebagian besar traffic yang ada di situs Anda didapatkan lewat cara yang tidak natural. Maka Anda wajib membangun brand dan bisnis yang kuat.
Social media – Social media adalah hal yang sedang ngetrend saat ini. Situs jejaring sosial seperti Twitter dan Facebook memiliki jutaan data pengguna. Dan ini bisa digunakan untuk mencari berita-berita terpopuler hingga blog dan website favorit. Pastikan Anda juga aktif di area-area ini.Well, itulah langkah-langkah yang mungkin bisa Anda terapkan untuk memelihara peringkat
Manfaat Habbatussauda
?Nigella Sativa (Habbatussauda)
Obat dan Supplemen Kesehatan Terampuh
Kemasan Extract Soft Gell Nigella Sativa Oil
(Golden Nigella Sativa /Bio Nigell)
Product Alami
• 100% produk alami
• 100% Habbatussauda Murni
• Mudah dicerna tubuh dan tidak mengendap di ginjal
• Tidak mengandung bahan kimia
• Tidak mengandung bahan pengawet
• Tidak mengandung racun (non-toxic), tidak menimbulkan alergi (non-allergenic) dan tidak berinteraksi negative dengan obat, makanan atau suplemen lainnya.
Nigella Sativa (Habatussauda) adalah sejenis tanaman yang telah dikenal ribuan tahun yang lalu dan digunakan secara luas oleh masyarakat India dan Timur Tengah untuk mengobati berbagai macam penyakit. Berkembang biak dengan biji yang terletak di dalam kapsul buah. Saat kapsul buah matang, ia akan membuka dan biji yang ada di dalamnya akan mengudara dan berubah menjadi hitam, sehingga disebut Biji Hitam (Black Seed). Biji Nigella Sativa berukuran kecil dan pendek (panjang antara 1-2mm), hitam, berbentuk trigonal, memiliki rasa yang kuat dan pedas seperti lada.
Dalam Sejarah Nigella Sativa (Habbatus Sauda) pertama kali ditemukan di kuburan Tutankhamen (Firaun) di Yunani Kuno, di mana pada saat itu raja-raja di kubur bersama-sama dengan Nigella untuk membantu diakhir hidupnya, dan dalam kajian arkeologi Nigella Sativa memiliki peranan sangat penting dalam kehidupan Mesir kuno. Bahkan Nigella Sativa digunakan Notfete dan Cleopatra untuk merawat tubuhnya sebagai tambahan untuk mandi. Tumbuhan ini sudah digunakan untuk pengobatan dalam bentuk herba ataupun minyak selama berabad-abad di Asia, timur tengah dan Afrika. Secara tradisional digunakan untuk pengobatan sakit pernafasan, perut, ginjal, liver dan memperkuat sistem kekebalan tubuh.
Referensi tertulis pertama tentang Nigella Sativa (Black Cumin) di buku Isaia dalam Old Testament (Perjanjian Lama, kitab suci Nasrani dan Yahudi). Isaiah menjelaskan, “For the black Cumin is not threshed with threshing sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over the cumin, but the black cumin is beaten out with a stickthe cumin with a rad”. (Isaiah 28:25,27 NKJV). Eastons Bible Dictionary menjelaskan bahwa bahasa Ibrani (bahasa kaum Yahudi) untuk kata Black Cumin “Ketsah” mengacu pada Nigella Sativa, merupakan ordo Ranunculaceae yang tumbuh liar di negara Mediterania, dan dikembangkan di Mesir dan Siria.
Nigella Sativa juga termasuk dalam daftar obat-obatan alamiah dalam buku Al-Tibb Al-Nabawi (Pengobatan Para Nabi). Nabi Muhammad SAW pun telah merekomendasikan penggunaan Nigella Sativa untuk kesehatan, sebagaimana hadits “Gunakanlah Habbatus Sauda (Nigella Sativa), karena sesungguhnya di dalamnya terdapat obat semua penyakit, kecuali kematian”. (HR. Bukhori Muslim)
Nigella Sativa (Habbatussauda) dalam Dunia Medis
Dalam berbagai uji klinis yang dilakukan para ilmuwan, Nigella Sativa mengandung 40% minyak konstan dan 1,4% minyak aviari serta mengandung 15 amino acid, protein, calcium, zat besi, sodium dan pottasium. Sedangkan komposisi paling penting adalah: Thymoquinone (TQ), Dithymo- ouinone (DTQ), Thymohydro- quinone (THQ) dan Thymol (THY).Kalangan medis tadinya menolak keras adanya sebuah herba yang bisa menyembuhkan penyakit. Tapi ketika ilmuwan muslim melakukan uji klinis dan menyimpulkan hasilnya, mereka baru mengakui kebenaran tersebut.
The Journal of America Scientist melaporkan Nigella/Habbasauda bermafaat untuk banyak penyakit karena mengandung antihistamin (anti lelah), antioxidant (pencegah kerusakan sel), antibiotic (pembunuh kuman), antimycotic (anti alergi), dan bancho-dilating effect (memperlancar) saluran pernafasan.
Dr.Micheal Tierra, penulis buku “Planetary Herbalogy” menemukan Nigella mengandung bebasitosterol, yaitu bahan untuk anti-kanker yang mujarab.
Kamus kedoktoran “Larousse” menjelaskan bahwa habbatussauda berfungsi untuk mengeluarkan angin dari perut, menambah gairah seks, dan melancarkan darah haid.
Terdapat banyak kajian pengobatan lama dan modern telah dibuat untuk mencari sejauh mana kebenaran kenyataan ini. Di dalam Kitab At Tibbun Nabawi (Pengobatan Cara Nabi yang ditulis oleh Ibnu Qayyim Al Jauziyah), menyebut bahwa habbatussauda dapat mengobati 50 jenis penyakit tanpa efek samping.
Beberapa Manfaat Nigella Sativa (Habbatussauda)
Meningkatkan sistem kekebalan tubuh, Menurunkan kolesterol dan kadar gula, Menghaluskan dan mengencangkan kulit, Membuang racun dari dalam tubuh, Menambah energi bagi pria dan mengatasi impotensi, Meningkatkan produksi air susu ibu, Menghilangkan/ mengurangi reaksi alergi seperti gatal, asthma dan bronchitis, Mengobati jerawat dan eksim, Mencegah gangguan ginjal dan saluran kemih, Memperlambat proses penuaan sel, Menormalkan tekanan darah tinggi/rendah, Memperkuat daya konsentrasi, Menyembuhkan rematik dan asam urat, Mengobati gangguan lambung (maag) dan hati/liver, Anti Tumor, Anti kanker, Anti bakteri, ambeyen (wasir) dan virus dan lain-lain.
Kandungan nutrisi Nigella sativa selain membangun sistem kekebalan tubuh sepanjang hari, juga menyediakan sumber yang optimal untuk menjaga kesehatan dan menyembuhkan penyakit. Nigella sativa kaya akan kandungan :
• Nutrisi Monosakarida (molekul gula tunggal) dalam bentuk glukosa rhamnosa, xylose dan arabinosa yang dengan mudah dapat diserap oleh tubuh sebagai sumber
energi
• Polisakarida non-pati yang berfungsi sebagai sumber serat yang sangat berguna untuk diet.
• Lima belas asam amino pembentuk protein, delapan diantaranya asam amino esensial yang sangat diperlukan oleh tubuh, dimana tubuh tidak dapat mensistensis-nya sendiri sehingga perlu asupan dari luar. Diantaranya asam amino Arginin yang sangat penting untuk masa pertumbuhan,
• karoten, yang diubah menjadi vitamin A oleh liver (hati).
• Berbagai mineral, seperti: kalsium, zat besi, natrium dan kalium yang berperan penting dalam membantu peran enzim.
• Asam Lemak, terutama Asam Lemak Esensial tak jenuh (Asam Linoleat dan Linolenat). Asam Lemak Esensial terdiri dari Asam Alfa-Linolenat (Omega-3) dan Asam Linoleat (Omega-6) sebagai pembentuk sel yang tidak dapat dibentuk sendiri dalam tubuh sehingga harus mendapat asupan atau makanan dari luar yang memiliki kandungan Asal Lemak Esensial yang tinggi.
• Senyawa kimia penting lainnya, seperti: minyak atsiri, thymoquinone (THQ), dithimoquinone (DTQ), dll.
Multi Khasiat Habbatussauda (Nigella Sativa)
• Menguatkan Sistem Kekebalan Tubuh
Jintan hitam (Habbatussauda’) dapat meningkatkan jumlah sel-sel T yang baik untuk meningkatkan sel-sel pembunuh alami. Efektivitasnya hingga 72% jika dibandingkan dengan plasebo hanya 7%. Dengan demikian, mengkonsumsi habbatussauda’ dapat meningkatkan sistem kekebalan tubuh. Pada tahun 1993, DR. Basil Ali dengan koleganya dari College of Medicine, di Universitas King Faisal mempublikasikannya dalam jurnal Pharmasetik Saud. Kemampuan ekstrak Habbatussauda’ diakui Prof . G Reitmuller, Direktur Institut Immonologi dari Universitas Munich, dapat meningkatkan sistem kekebalan tubuh dan dapat digunakan bioregulator. Dengan demikian, Habbatussauda’ dapat dijadikan obat untuk penyakit yang menyerang kekebalan tubuh, seperti kanker dan AIDS.
• Meningkatkan daya ingat, konsentrasi, dan kewaspadaan
Dengan kandungan asam linoleat (omega 6) dan asam linolenat (omega 3), Habbatussauda merupakan nutrisi bagi sel otak untuk meningkatkan daya ingat dan kecerdasan. Habbatussauda’ juga memperbaiki mikro (peredaran darah) ke otak dan sangat cocok diberikan kepada anak usia pertumbuhan dan lansia.
• Meningkatkan bioaktivitas hormon
Hormon adalah zat aktif yang dihasilkan oleh kelenjar endokrin yang masuk dalam peredaran darah. Dalam tubuh manusia terdapat berbagai jenis hormon di ataranya hormon reproduksi yang berhubungan dengan gairah seksual. Salah satu kandungan Habbatussauda adalah setrol yang berfungsi dalam sintesis dan bioaktivitas hormon.
• Menetralkan racun dalam tubuh
Racun dapat menganggu metabolisme dan menurunkan fungsi organ penting seperti hati, paru-paru dan otak. Gejala ringan keracunan dapat berupa diare, muntah, pusing, gangguan pernapasan dan menurunkan daya konsentrasi. Habbatussauda’ mengandung saponin yang dapat menetralkan dan membersihkan racun dalam tubuh.
• Mengatasi gangguan tidur dan stress
Sapion yang terdapat pada Habbatussauda’ mempunyai fungsi seperti kortikosteroid yang dapat mempengaruhi karbohidrat, protein dan lemak serta mempengaruhi fungsi jantung, ginjal, otot tubuh dan syaraf. Sapion berfungsi untuk mempertahankan diri dari perubahan lingkungan, gangguan tidur dan dapat menghilangkan stress.
Anti histamin. Histamin adalah sebuah zat yang dilepaskan oleh jaringan tubuh yang memberikan reaksi alergi seperti pada asthma bronkial. Minyak yang dibuat dari Habbatussauda’ dapat mengisolasi dithimoquinone (DTQ). Minyak ini sering disebut nigellone yang berasal dari volatile nigella. Pemberian minyak ini berdampak positif terhadap penderta asthma bronkial.
Penelitian yang dilakukan oleh Nirmal Chakravaty MD pada tahun 1993 membuktikan kristal dari negelone memberi efek suppressive (menekan). Kristal-kristal ini dapat menghambat protemkinasi C, sebuah zat yang memicu pelepasan histamin.
Penelitian lain juga membuktikan hal serupa. Kali ini dilakukan oleh Dr. Med. Peter Schleincher, ahli immonologi dari Universitas Munich. Yang melakukan pengujian terhadap 600 orang yang menderita alergi. Hasilnya cukup meyakinkan, 70 % yang menderita alergi debu, serbuk, jerawat dan asthma sembuh setelah diberi minyak nigella (Habbatussauda’). Dalam prakteknya Dr. Schleincher memberi resep Habbatussauda’ ke pasiennya yang menderita influenza.
• Memperbaiki saluran pencernaan dan anti bakteri
Habbatussauda’ mengandung minyak atsiri dari minyak volatif yang telah diketahui manfaatnya untuk memperbaiki pencernaan. Secara tradisional minyak atsiri digunakan untuk obat diare. Pada tahun 1992, Jurnal Farmasi Pakistan membuat hasil penelitian yang membuktikan minyak volatile lebih ampuh membunuh strain bakteri V. cholera dan E coli dibandingkan dengan antibiotik seperti ampicilin dan tetrasiklin.
Melancarkan air susu ibu
Kombinasi bagian lemak tidak jenuh dan struktur hormonoal yang terdapat dalam minyak Habbatussauda’ dapat melancarkan air susu ibu. Penelitian ini kemudian dimuat dalam literatur penelitian Universitas Potchetstroom tahun 1989.
Tambahan nutrisi pada ibu hamil dan balita
Pada masa pertumbuhan, anak membutuhkan nutrisi untuk meningkatkan sistem kekebalan tubuh secara alami, terutama pada musim hujan anak sangat mudah terkena flu dan pilek. Kandungan Omega 3, Omega 6 dan Omega 9 yang terdapat pada Habbatussauda’merupakan nutrisi yang membantu perkembangan jaringan otak.
Meremajakan sel-sel kulit dan menunda proses penuaan
Kulit merupakan salah satu organ tubuh terluar yang penting. Fungsinya melindungi tubuh dari benturan fisik, kuman dan jamur. Habbatussauda’ sangat baik untuk menjaga kelembaban, kehalusan dan keremajaan kulit.
Nutrisi bagi lansia dan food supplement
Kaya akan kandungan nutrisi sebagai tambahan energi sangat ideal untuk orang yang berusia lanjut, terutama untuk menjaga daya tahan tubuh dan revitalitas sel otak agar tidak cepat pikun. Habbatussauda’ mengandung 15 macam asam animo penyusun isi protein termasuk di dalamnya 9 asam amino esensial. Asam amino tidak dapat diproduksi oleh tubuh dalam jumlah yang cukup, oleh karena itu harus diperoleh dari makanan.
Prinsip-prinsip anti tumor pada Kongres Kanker Internasional di New Delhi pada musim gugur yang lalu, minyak Habbatussauda’ diperkenalkan ilmuan kanker Immonobiologi Laboratory dari Carolina Selatan. Habbatussauda’ dapat merangsang sumsum tulang dan sel-sel kekebalan. Interferonnya menghasilkan sel-sel normal terhadap virus yang merusak sekaligus menghancurkan sel-sel tumor dan meningkatkan antibodi.
Thymoquinone dan pengobatan kanker pankreas
Para peneliti di Kimmel Cancer di Jefferson di Philadelphia telah menemukan bahwa thymoquinone (THQ), dari ekstrak minyak biji Nigella sativa, menghalangi pertumbuhan sel kanker pankreas dan membunuh sel-sel kanker dengan meningkatkan proses kematian sel terprogram (apoptosis). Sementara studi pada tahap awal, temuan menunjukkan bahwa thymoquinone akhirnya bisa digunakan untuk pencegahan pada pasien yang telah menjalani pembedahan dan kemoterapi atau orang yang beresiko tinggi terserang kanker.
KHASIAT LAIN HABBATUSSAUDA
1. Anti inflamasi, mengobati perih dan radang tenggorokan.
2. Anti Artritik, mengobati reumatik.
3. Anti Analgesik, mengobati sakit gigi dan sakit kepala (migran).
4. Aktivitas hormon mengatur haid dan meningkatkan aliran susu.
5. Antiseptik, mengobati bau mulut.
6. Antiphyretik, menurunkan demam
7. Antivirus, membantu mengobati flu dan penyakit lain yang disebabkan oleh virus (Thypus,DBD, Hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, Flu Burung, dsb.)
8. Dematologi (penyakit kulit), mengobati jerawat dan eksim.
9. Urinary tract, mengobati saluran kemih dan batu ginjal.
10. Sistem kekebalan, meningkatkan daya tahan tubuh (antibody) untuk menangkal penyakit.
11. Gastro intestinal tract, mengobati mabuk, diare, kejang, konstipasi dan empedu.
12. Mengobati penyakit asam lambung (maag).
13. Sistem sirkulasi, meningkatkan kerja jantung.
14. Nematocidal, membasmi cacing pita.
15. Respiratory tract, mengobati sesak nafas (asma).
Apa kata pakar kedokteran mengenai
NIGELLA SATIVA / HABBATUSSAUDA ?
Prof. Dr. Hildbert Wagner (German)
Nigella Sativa terbukti menyembuhkan pasien alergi, neuradermitis, asthma, dan lemahnya daya tahan tubuh
Prof. Lutz Bannasch (German)
Nigella Sativa Oil memiliki khasiat antitumor tanpa efek samping seperti terjadi pada kemoterapi dan penyinaran
Dr. Stanley Kopok (America)
Nigella Sativa memiliki peran sangat penting untuk mencegah tumor dan dalam jangka waktu lama memperkuat sistem kekebalan tubuh
Dr. Tajul Aris Yang (Malaysia)
Omega yang terkandung dalam Nigella Sativa lebih besar 10 kali lipat dari pada DHA dan EPA
Dr. Michael Tierra L. AC. O.M.D.
Nigella Sativa kaya akan beta-sitosterol, yang diketahui memiliki kemampuan mencegah kanker
Dr. Peter Schleicher, M.D & Dr. Mohammed Saleh, M.D ( Mesir )
Nigella Sativa mempunyai lebih dari 100 bahan aktif dengan berbagai khasiat penyembuhan. Salah satunya adalah impotensi” (dalam Buku “Black Cumin, The Magical Egyptian Herb”)
Penelitian di Universitas Pochefstroom ( German )
Kombinasi kandungan lipid dan struktur hormon dalam Nigella Sativa dapat meningkatkan air susu bagi ibu menyusui
Immunpharmacology (1995) New York, USA
Nigella Sativa Oil terbukti meningkatkan jumlah Lymphosit, Leukosit dan Phygosit dalam darah
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Antiques
Dining with Nobility
When Louis XV named the prince de Rohan ambassador extraordinary to the Court of Vienna, Rohan made sure to equip himself with a table service of regal distinction from Servres. In the prince’s day, porcelain was a precious, almost miraculous substance that warranted the talents of the finest artists and designers a kingdom could assemble. Richly painted and gilded, Rohan’s service was carefully calculated to remind his Austrian hosts of the grandeur and the artistic accomplishment of France.
The eighteeth century was ann age of inspired excess. The patronage of the Bourbons, the Habsburgs and the Romanovs was at its height, and the applied arts reached an unparalleled level of refinement. This was especially true of the arts of porcelain. Chinaware had replaced silver and faience on the princely table, and elaborate crested services were indispensable marks of rank. Created in the Baroque, Rococo or Neo-Classical tastes, and commissioned to mark royal weddings, coronations and military triumphs, these services played an essential role in court ceremony from Versailles to Saint Petersburg.
The porcelains created for the noble house were often terrifically expensive. At a time when a weaver earned about three hundred livres a year, Louis XV might spend 60,000 livres on a single service. Even Louis, however, could not outdo Catherine the Great of Russia. During thr 1770s, the empress commissioned a Servres service for the staggering sun of 328,188 livres, the bill for which she never paid in full. Table services like Catherine’s included a multituude of forms. Indeed, even a relatively inexpensive 5,000 livres service ordinaire could encompass ninety-six plates, forteen ice pail and thirtyfive chestnut dishes, salvers and the like, in a truly grand service, the range was astonishing. For the dessert course alone, the empress’s service included nearly three hundred plates and a plethora of sweetmeat dishes, sauceboats and sucriers.
Services of such importance were embellished with great invention. Serving dishes and tureens might be disguised as monkeys or artichokes, or they might be coordinated according to a single unifying theme. The celebrated swan service, made for Count Heinrich von Bruhl, was conceived around the theme of water. As director of the porcelain factory at Meissen, von Bruhl was able to oversee the creation of his own service. He demanded a tour de force and got one: 2,200 pieces of porcelain, on which a flotilla of sea gods, dolphins and swans disport themselves in the round and in relief. The English ambassador to the Court of Augustus III sent home a description of Von Bruhl’s table in 1748: “It was the most wonderful thing I have ever beheld. I fancy’d myself either in a Garden or at an Opera. But I could not imagine that I was at Dinner.”
Von Bruhl was not the only aristocrat to take a keen interest in the porcelains made for his table. Many noblemen opened their own manufactories and went to great extremes to obtain the most refined techniques of production and decoration. The duke of Brunswick offered one expert an eighteen-room house to induce him to bring his secrets to the ducal manufactory. Frederick the Great resorted to the force of arms. When he invaded Meissen during the Seven Years’ War, he first tried to move the celebrated factory to Berlin and then settled on a bounty of six sumptuous table services for his personal use.
As emblemsof national prestige, table services were often commisioned for use as diplomatic gifts. Louis XV proudly presented Rococo services to rulers throghout Europe and the East. Once such service was even sent to the emperor of China, who surely cast a perplexed eye on the un-Chinnese cupids and putti that adorned it. More than just gestures of goodwill, table services were often presented to foreign rulers with specific political ends in mind. One famous dinner set, inspired by classical vases unearthed at Herculaneum, was given by Ferdinand IV of the Two Sicilies to George III. Sent to England with great ceremony aboard a pair of warships, the services was intended to induce the British to aid Ferdinand in building up his navy.
Other dinner sets were presented as more personal atributes. After the success of the plot that put her on the Russian throne, Catherine II rewarded her lover, Grigori Orlov, the chief conspirator in the coup, with one of the most splendid dinner services ever produced in Saint Petersburg. In France, Napoleon continued the eighteenth-century tradition of making presentations of servres dinerware, offering Josephine an immense “Egyptian” service as a mark of respect after their divorce. Decorated views of Egypt and with gold hieroglyphics, it took twelve men bearing six litters to deliver the service to Malmaison. Josephine refused the extravagant gift, and in an odd twist of late Louis XVIII later presented the service to the duke of Wellington, the brilliant English soldier who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.
Perhaps the most revealing testament to the esteem accorded porcelain serviceware in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was provided by Marie Antoinette. The queen’s preoccupation with fine china even in the midst of the French Revolution is typical of her age and yet seems extraordinary in ours. Porcelain was so essential a commodity for the wellborn of the day that even as the Revolution quickened in 1791, Marie Antoinette thought to order a specially crested cup and teapot for her traveling case. Commissioned “to serve in case of sudden flight,” these were ordered on the eve of the royal family’s escape attempt the ill-fated Night of Varennes, which ultimately led to the guillotine.
The Blazing Stars of Marlborough
By Michael M. Thomas
Geographically adn figuratively, Marlborough anchors the community of galleries that ranges along the southern blockfront of Fifty-seventh Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues. Its stark, fluid gallery spaces and broad sculputure terrace – currently graced by imposing bronzes by one of Marlborough’s longtime stars, Colombian Fernando Botero at first blush suggest the mainstream bastions of the New York School, Pace and Emmerich, across Fifth Avenue.
To survey a calendar of Marlborough exhibitions would, however, indicate that the gallery has managed to set itself apart from the usual clamor – as often verbal as visual – of Manhattan’s frenetic art world. “We exhibit aartists who will remain with us and develop,” says Pierre Levai, who presides over the Fifty-seventh Street operation,” artists who will be appreciated for their work rather than their personalities.” It is this philosophy that has provided the foundation for Marlborough’s ascendancy over the last two decades as a global force in the world of twentieth-century painting and sculpture.
Levai, the nephew of gallery founder Frank Lloyd, has headed the New York gallery since 1977, fifteen years after it first opened on Fiftyseventh Street. He also oversees a 22,000-square-foot sculpture warehouse in Greenpoint, New York. In Levai’s view, sculpture is becoming much more important in response to the increasing grandeur of late-twentieth-century private living.
Like all of Marlborough’s principals, including those heading its sister galleries in London and Tokyo, Levai is involved in the worldwide activities of what is, by any standards of reach, diversification and clout, a true powerhouse. “We are much more international in our contemporary outlook, “says Levai, and this is certainly confirmed by the list of house artists. Apart from Botero, the New York gallery represents Israeli Avigdor Arikha, one of the most intriguing imagists alive today; R. B. Kitaj; the elegant Claudio Bravo, who sustains the Spanish tradition of coolly observed landscape and still life painting that originated with Velasquez and Sanchez Cotan; and the Mexican Rufino Tamayo. Also included are a host of hight-visibility Americans, including Red Grooms, Alex Katz, Larry Rivers and Neil Welliver. This range and wealth enable Marlborough to mount blockbuster group shows that important schools and masters from the Impressionists on. Its liveliest efforts, however, are expended in the sponsorship and exhibition of time-proven living artists.
The operative word is time-proven. Marlborough has the scholarly and material resources to avoid the headlong temptations of modishness. Its clientele is as international as its roster of artists; the gallery finds that its overseas collectors tend to be somewhat more reflective than their American counterparts, and more attuned to the pictorial traditions within which a good number of the longtime Marlborough artists work.
It is not surprising, therefore, that this is not a venue in which unknown artists burst on the scene. Before seeking to add a new name to their stable, Levai and his associates take a long first look, then a second, then a third, always mindful that “the international Marlborough appeal” embraces a broad spectrum of taste that includes Tokyo and Buenos Aires, Los Angeles and Lausanne.
One artist whom the gallery has recently begun to represent is Texasborn John Alexander. In the last few years, Alexander has moved from a highly personal linear form of expression to a pictorial vocabulary that retains the brilliance and craft of his earlier work but that now incorporates a recognizable imagery that brings the work within the orbit of current trends. What marks Alexander as a “Marlborough aartist” indeed, what marks every artist on the roster, old and young, sculptor, painter or photographer is that the work is of the highest quality. An hour with Levai along with a look around the galleries and sculpture terrace combine to create the powerful feeling that, at Marlborough at least, mediocre workers need not apply.
Thus, at a time when the hottest names in the art world seem to proclaim the ascendancy of an aggressive looseness of execution, Marlborough may give the impression of being off to the side, out of the picture. It can be debated, however, whether that can be said of a closely coordinated tricontinental enterprise that, in addition to the artists named, carries works in New York by Arnaldo Podomoro, Brassai and irving Penn, and in London by Francis Bacon, Henry Moore and Sidney Nolan, along with swath-cutting younger artists like Dieter Hacker.
Indeed, if the passions of the moment are all that matter, the gallery might seem to be out of step with the times. But at the end of the age, when posterity’s accounts are totted up and rendered, it will be worth observing that for decades the vast majority of Marlborough’s longtime circle of artists have been represented worldwide in the great museums and famous private collections.
Grafted For Art
The American Focus of a California
By Marc Appleton
Sometimes the renovation of a house is a sweeping, all-encompassing process. It can also be an exercise in restraint. “We approached this project with a hands-off spirit,” says Marc Appleton, the Los Angeles architect entrusted with remodeling a southern California house built exactly seven decades ago. The original architect, Robert D. farquhar, is best known for his civic buildings in a beaux-arts style, such as the California Club in downtown Los Angeles.
“This house is one of Farquhar’s few domestic buildings,” says Appleton. “His beaux-arts background gave all his work the imprint of classical tradition. But here, working on an intimate scale, he permitted himself a degree of playfulness.”
At first glance, the house has a certain affinity with the bungalows of Charles and Henry Greene-the California architects with roots in the Arts and Crafts movement at the turn of the century-though the exterior, with its red-tile roof, imparts a Spanish Colonial Flavor. And, as Appleton points out, “There is an Oriental feel to some of the woodwork and decoration in the courtyard, which gives it a quietly Japannese sensibility.”
Yet at heart the house is classical, with a symmetrical floor plan and an uncludttered approach to detail. “Our clients, a couple with a strong commitment to art, found that clarity very much to their liking,” says the architect. His first concern was to provide a setting for a collection that ranges from ancient Mimbres pottery to ceramics by contemporary artist Kenneth Price.
“we tried to give the art the focus it receives in a museum or a gallery,” says Appleton. “At the same time, the house has to function as a house.” And it does, though the owners keep furniture to a minimum. “There are no plants, no bric-a-brac, none of the usual accoutrements of a home,” he adds. Nothing to distract the eye from the delicacies of mimbres tracery and the pencil drawings by Agnes Martin. Or the woven geometries of rugs and blankets-both Navajo and nineteenth-century American-that appear throughout the house.
As for the principle that guides the collection, the husband says simply, “We look for things that go together.” Unity is found in variations on the theme of quietude-a Brice Marden monochrome, a Joseph Cornell box, a small frescoed panel by David Novros. These objects encourage a stillness rarely encointered in museum exhibition-well-attended events in public places. The farquhar house, on the other hand, feels private, extremely so. Despite the art it contains in such variety, this bungalow is nothing like a museum.
The husband points out that the shape of a Mimbres bowl “suggests the dome of the sky as well as the New Mexico valley where the Mimbres people lived.” These artifacts reflect the environment in which they were made, a characteristic encountered elsewhere in the collection. Cornell’s boxes recall the memento-stuffed house in queens, New York, where he worked. The miniature landscapes adorning Kenneth Price’s ceramic jars evoke the spirit of the Southwest.
“The majority of the changes we made were nonarchitectural,” says Appleton. “Where we needed shelves for a series of small sculptures, we installed them. Most of our work was fine tuning. We made amends for some previous remodeling, added a few details, restored the rest. Some locksets and other bits of hardware had to be copied. And, of course, in 1915 Farquhar made little provision for present-day standards of lighting.”
Since lamps would have distracted from the art, recessed lighting was installed. During the day shuttered sunlight flows through the house. Beyond, an arcade leads to the courtyard and a recently added swimming pool. Inside and out, the house is as crisp as the silhouettes of Tony Berlant’s painstakingly crafted sculptures-toylike forms that suggest treasure chests and whimsical cabins.
Seeking the elements of a domestic style, Farquhar ranged from the Orient to the Los Angeles of Greene and Greene. In forming their art collection, the owners of Farquhar’s house drew on contemporary Los Angeles. They, too, sought out other traditions, such as Navajo and Mimbres.
Despite its museum-white walls, this southern california bungalow is not simply a showcase for art. Favoring pottery and rugs, quiet paintings and small-scale sculpture with an architectonic feel, the current owners have turned their home into a meditation on the idea of domesticity.
Urbane Unity
Reinterpreting a New York Classic
A dozen years ago, Michael de Santis drove to Long Island to meet a new client at her home and was stunned to find himself ushered into a room that was an exact replika of a de Santis design once featured in a megazine. This reproduction, accurate down to the last ashtray, had been achieved without professional help by a young woman in the early, less affluent days of her marriage. De Santis, a man who can’t stand repeating himself, received the homege gracefully. “You could take it either as an insult or flattery,” he says wryly. “I took it as a compliment.”
It’s hardly surprising then that this soigne apartment in the Ritz Tower Hotel in New York evokes little of his past work. Des Santis calls it “pretty,” a courageously spare adjective in a profession addicted to rich ribbons of words. The place is pretty, but it also has a worldliness appropriate to the location. De santis felt strongly about matching the glamour of the address, he also felt strongly about avoiding high drama. Envisioning a design that could be read almost as a statement of a working creed, he set out to please the eye and comfort the body without creating what anyone might be tempted to call “a showcase.”
The owners are newlyweds who met and married after the deaths of their spouses. Husband and wife brought to their union a shared love of travel, a fondness for entertaining and two lifetime accumulations of family possessions. few of their old things followed them into their new home. “I think that in a second marriage,” muses de Santis, with the assurance of a veteran observer, “people are more giving. This couple disposed of a lot of furniture. in a way, they were giving up old lives.”
Still, there remained a single significant difference to be reconciled. The wife had always lived amid period pieces and collects Oriental porcelains; the husband prefers contemporary surroundings and buysnew art. Their divergent tastes, theoretically at least, could have led to hard feelings. Testimony to de Santis’s mastery of aesthetics and psychology are the vintage Chinese rugs he chose for the library and living room. With them he unified the adjoining spaces-without dividing the clients. With their simple patterns and muted colors, the rugs satisfy contemporary tastes, yet as classucs they also manage to provide pleasing links to the past.
Along with unifying the couple’s diverse tastes, the rugs were meant to transform two rooms into one large harmonious space for those evenings when the apartment bustles with friends and movement. Between the living room and library, where the bar is housed, are pocked doors that slide into the walls, allowing an unimpeded flow guests. And the lush terra-cotta fields of the rugs obviously served stillanother purpose; they dictated the dominant colors in the apartment-peach, apricot and beige. Almost demurely, color also announces style and mood at the very threshold; the entrance’s mirrored panels, framed in muted peach, introduce a setting that above all is meant to enfold the inhabitants in quiet and order.
De Santiscalculates that his only problem and not a particularly weighty one at that was finding a way for the lady of the house to organize her frequent bridge parties. In this stylish setting, folding card tables were hardly a feasible solution. The designer finaally settled on two round tables for the dining room; they can be used for card games as well as for small gatherings of dinner guests.
The spare lines of the large upholstered pieces reflect a modern sensibility as does the living room’s minimalist lacquered console table, a piece boldly sculptural in feeling. Even son, the apartment reveals a style that de Santis considers “traditional,” a soothing mode fixed in no particular time or place. “The danger of traditional,” he notes, “is clutter,” a hazard de Santis has no trouble avoiding. He dislikes clutter, even the most artfully arranged.
There are other design techniques that have failed to hold his interest. These day he shies away from elaborate window treatments, persuaded that they distract from important elements in a room. He prefers not to use primary colors, unless a client seems irrevocably wedded to the prospect of living with them. In constant flight from fashions that seem destined to become fads, he has given up durries, shuns acrylic, even in the most contemporary interiors, and regards floor stenciling, once a favorite embellishment, as a serious bore. He has also pretty well retired the imposing tropical tree as a window accent and ritual touch of green.
Discovering and using a fresh material before it becomes a banality is one of the occasional rewards of a designer’s working life. As de Santis was developing this Ritz Tower design, he was shown a sample of a patterned leather as thin and as pliable as glove leather, almost silken to the touch and with a subtle,muted gleam. He used it as a covering on a stool-a small pleasure and a discreet treasure in a setting that gently weaves the contemporary with the traditional, inviting attention without clamoring for it.
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Return To Egypt
Travel notes Roderick Cameron
An invitation to join a private cruise on the Nile brought back a flood of childhood memories. I was eight in 1921 and my stepfather, a colonel in the British army, was stationed with his regiment, the Ninth Lancers, outside Cairo at Abbassiyeh. The memories are jumbled but vivid. We lived in a rambling barrack house set down in a large garden that was divided into squares of banked earth, which in turn were irrigated by a system of canals, and I would play with paper boats in the brown Nile water as it came tumbling through the sluices,
I remember sitting with my strawhatted governess scratching for blue mummy beads around the mastaba tombs near the Giza pyramids. in those daysthis was still possible. I also remember an American woman who had a whole encampment of luxurious furnished tents in the desert beyond the Mena House Hotel. Flaming torcheslighted the tents at night, and it is easy to imagine the impression this made!
Howard Carter, who discovered king Tutankhamen’s tomb, happened to know my mother, and one day, when he was staying at the Winter Palace at Luxor, he offered to take me down into the newly discovered site. Mr. Carter was impressed, I think, by my seriousnessand by my obvious fascination with his stories. The inner chamber had not yet been broken open, and I remember vividly the footprint of a sandal in the dust, left there, so Mr. Carter told me, by a high priest who had stepped forward to print a seal on a plaster wall behind which lay the royal sarcophagus. I remember some dried flowers strewn on the floor and two guardian statues covered in palls of linen that had half rotted, exposing large areas of shining gold.
The years pass. In 1947 my mother chartered the Memnon, which then belonged to Thomas Cook and which later was used in Death on the Nile. The decks were spread with carpets and set with glass-topped tables and numerous wicker chairs made comfortable with mattresses and nests of chushions. The woodwork was white and the brass shone, including the bedteads. Pens with clean nibs, engraved paper and sealing wax were to be found on all the desks. In fact, the dahabeah evokedan Edwardian country house transplanted by chance to the Nile, where it churned its way very slowly through the brown water.
Now the Memnon becomes the shaden and the time is the present. Things are not the same, and the first thing I learn is that I should never, under any circumstances, visit Egypt during the season that runs from October to the middle of May. To avoid the nightmare of queueing crowds, my traveling companions and I concentrate on Islamic Cairo: the magnificent Ibn-Tulun Mosque, mostly open to sky and built during the second half of the ninth century entirely of brick, the walls, pillars and arches coated with elaborate stucco. Nothing has marred its vast walled-in square, and the place is hauntingly beautiful. The same is true of the Blue Mosque, more intimate and built in the fourteenth century, sheathed by the Turks three centuries later with a wall of breath-taking blue-green Isnik tiles. It used to be the favorite haunt of the nineteenth-century watercolorists. Now, alas, two oil drums disfigure its court and white pigeons no longer lodge in its dying almond tree.
Egypt is not lacking in superb architecture. One place that nnever fails to impress me as the most exciting to be seen there is King Zoser’s funeral complex at Saqqara. Set in a walled enclosure, his step pyramid- the first monumental royal tomb-and the extraordinary funerary temple were built for him by his master architect Imhotep around 2686-2613 B.C. Imhotep was King Zoser’s chief adviser, hight priest, learned physician and, above all, a remarkable architect. when in pristine condition, the temple and its precinct must have been a stupendous sight-sweeping stretches of paving, its precinct walls and pyramid surfaced in polished stone, all of it gleaming in the sparkling Egyptian light.
Equally engaging are the neaarby Fifth Dynasty mastabas of Ti and Ptah-Hotep, with their extraordinary reliefs, the wonderful precision of carved lines charged with such an intensity of life. Friezes move rhythmi-cally around the walls: herds of donkeys; slim, bewigged female dancers clad in gauze and attended by musicians; spectators clapping time with their hands. Slowly, with great dignity, they all move, a dirge of death marking their time. Or is it, perhaps, the endless music of eternity?
Back on board the shaden, we sail to Upper Egypt to Beni Suef and Beni Hasan. For the first part of our way, the banks are lined with mundane factory chimneys, but buy the time we beautiful Hatshepsut, Thutmose I’s daughter and wife of one of his sons. A very strong character, Hatshepsut was a regent for her nephew Thutmose III and eventually wieldedthe full powers of a Pharaoh. She even dressed as a man on state occasions. During the twenty-two years of her reign, the splendor of her court seems to have surpassed anything previously seen in Egypt.
We also swathe Colossus of Memnon, which was erected at luxor by Amenhotep III (“Amenhotep the Magnificent”). Amenhotep was the father of Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV), the Pharaoh who forbade worship of the old gods-especially Amon, the major god-in favor of worshiping a sole god, the sun god Aten. Forsaking Amon’s Imperial City of Thebes, Akhenaten built himself a new capital, Tell el Amarna.
During its brief existence, the city was famed for the lightness of its spirit, its gaiety and its laughter. But gone are its shaded streets, its gardens and its palaces. Little remains other than the spirals of dry dust traced by our donkey as they file into the heat; and yet in spite of this there is a strange sense of elation. Can it be that the spirit of Akhenaten still haunts the wastes that were once his city? There is something infinitely touching about the place. It is not just my fancy, for all of us feel it. When we depart I wonder, Are illusions and a vivid imagination substantial enough qualities to claim beauty for a place?
On the Shaden, as we near the end of our tour, Egypt unrolls before us like a long papyrus scroll-brown and green and muddy. Silently, the cafe-au-lait waters of the Nile boil and eddy around our prow, opaque with the lifeblood of the country, precious silt from the south. The land is narrow, crowded on both sides by stony, flat-topped mountains. The mountains recede at intevals giving us more space, but always beyond is the desert, a thin, pale line trembling in the heat. In comparison, how green are the few miles wedget between us and the flat horizon, fileds of millet and barley and sugarcane and always the graceful date palms. Egypt, I realize, has held my imagination across the span of a lifetime-a land as luminous as watercolor, as vivid as memory.
Architectur Morris & Morris
The Possibility thay Robert Venturi might be viewed as an elder statesman of architecture is shocking at first, for Venturi, the senior partner of Venturi, Rauch and Schott Brown, has spent most of his career outside the architectural establishment, arguing the shortcomings of orthodox modern architecture. But the generation of architects just beginning professional practice did not grow up with modernism and its reductivist ideology-it grew up with Venturi instead, and to it, Robert Venturi is as established a figure as they come.
The living room is based on a 12-foot-square unit used throughout the design.
And so it is not really surprising that we are beginning to see what might be called second-generation Venturi, buildings by younger architects that pay conscious homage to works of Venturi as if they were historical icons. A small house about fifteen miles outside Charlottesville, Virginia, by Christopher and Timothy Morris, is a good case in point. If anything, it does Venturi one better: Its form is based loosely on the Tucker House, a much-respected house Venturi designed for a site in Westchester County, New York, in 1975, but it is all made louder, more whimsical, almost shrill, to the point where the form is very much these architects’ own.
The client, Peter Shea, is a young Richmond-based businessman whose years at the University of Virginia fostered an attachment to the Charlottesville region that has never ended. Some years ago he purchased a large plot of land to which he added a small lake, only then did he begin to search for an architect who could design a small weekend house on the property for him.
Mr. Shea was struck by an illustration in a newsmagazine of an unbuilt house that, in an unusual hybrid of aesthetic and engineering concerns, combined solar technology with a somewhat playful interpretation of classicism. He traced down the architects, who turned out to be twin brothers-both of whom, coincidentally, had attended the University of Virginia as undergraduates. Timothy Morris went on the Yale School of Architecture, and Christopher to Princeton; after graduation they both returned to Bedford Hills,New York, and when Peter Shea found them they had recently begun an architectural practice together.
Mr. Shea initially requested yhe Morrises to build him the house he had seen published. (Designed for a competition on innovative housing, the home, thanks to its classical leanings, found its way into an exhibition of recent American classical architecture and from there into the newsmagazine.) When the Morrises visited Mr. Shea’s land, however, they found the site unsuitable for their original scheme, and proceeded to create a new one that incorporated elements of the previous project into a structure that was significantly different in shape.
The finished house is relatively tall and narrow, like Venturi’s Tucker House, and topped by a pyramidal roof that spreads in a wide overhang across the upper floor. But where the Venturi house is shingled and, if eccentric, has a serene air about it, “Chez Shea” (as the Morrises call this structure) is covered in concrete block in some sections, glass block in others, plywood in others and clapboard in still others. Colors and even styles shift as rapidly asdo materials-so much so that the whole house gives off an air of agitated, eager energy. It all culminates in a pair of enormous metal-clad swags that nominally functionas second-floor balustrades but are really like huge exclamation points on the facade facing the lake, wildly overscaled plays on a classical form rendered in wood and metal instead of fabric.
The house looks something like a garage that had been converted into a carriage house and then, in turn, gussied up for a fancy-dress ball. It could not have been designed by architects any older than the Morrises-they are now thirty-three-for it exudes a kind of indifference to ideology and to purity of form that very much be speaks the post-Venturi era. Christopher and Timothy Morris point to influence as diverse as Palladio (the Villa Rotonda) and Frank Lloyd Wright as well as Robert Venturi, and to them there is no contradiction in throwing all of these things together.
The house looks entirely different on each facade. The main facade-on the west side, with the swags-is not in fact the entry: to have put a door here would have intruded too dramatically on the tight plan and restricted the placement of furniture to take advantage of the prime views. But to give the house a sense of presence as it opens toward its land, the architect have created the illusion of a door through a one-add-a-half-story-hight window that serves as the central element in the west facade composition and that actually becomes a bay within the living room. The swags frame and enhance this central glass opening, as does a balcony off the master bedroom and a small triangular dormer shape on the roof, which crowns the entire facade like a pediment.
The other sides do not quite match this level of intensity. The south side contains a Trombe wall-a solid wall behind glass that the retains heat and is a significant of passive solar technology. However, even that does not look quite like its precedents: The Morrises used glass block instead of clear glass. The south facade also has concrete block at the bottom and a small central section of clear glass windows, topped by a glass-enclosed pediment. On the east side, a small wing of clapboard, like a shed hung from the structure, completes the composition. The north side contains the real entry, and it is perhaps the most understated of all.
The inside is simple, with the same quality of erudite funkiness that characterizes the exterior. Christopher and Timothy Morris heloed Peter Shea assemble an elected collection of modern furniture, ranging from Breuer’s Wassily chairs to a Noguchi table. For a ventilation grille they designed a series of cutouts based on martini glasses and swags, running like an abstract frieze across the top of the living room. The rooms are small in size, but their orientation to the outside-through balconies and windows-compensates.
The sum total is a work of considerable panache. “Chez Shea” is a complicated house-too complicated, perhaps, for its small size. If it suffers from any fault, it is the fault of too much architecture for the modest program of a bachelor’s weekend retreat. But Christopher and Timothy Morrris’s energetic, slapdash classicsm has an exuberance and verve to it that are all to rare today. This is a house that glows with an eager excitement about architecture.
The south facade, with recessed entrance, is dominated by a double row of secondstory windows topped by a glass pediment. The windows and glass-block Trombe wall generate passive solar heating, with vents that also cool the house. A deep roof overhang provides shade for the master bedroom.
The lake and distant Blue Ridge Mountains are visible from the second-story living room's floor-to-ceiling windows. Chairs by Breuer, table by Noguchi. Timothy Morris's scale modelof "Chez Shea" is on the table.
Art Notebook
Pierre Matisse, Master Dealer
By John Gruen
The Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York has been an eminent showcase for twentieth century masters since 1932. In the Library are the dealer and his wife, Maria-Gaetana
To walk into the Pierre Matisse Galery in NewYork is to be in touch with over half a century of modern art. Founded in 1932 by the son of Henri Matisse, the gallery has be come renowned for introducing the works of Miro’, Chagall, Rouault, Giacometti, Dubuffet and Balthus to the Amarican publik.
These modern masters found in Pierre Matisse the ideal American-based representative, for no dealer seemed more attuned to the expressive commponents of their art, or so readily open to friendship and trust. Indeed, Pierre Matisse is a dealer more concerned with the well-being of his artists than with commerce-someone who finds understatement a virtue, showiness a vice.
“I am not very successful art dealer,” says the eighty-five-year-old Matisse. “If I were, I would now be in Florida playing golf, and I would own this building! You see, I’ve never been any good at being a merchant, at making deals and pursuing collectors. What I’ve loved most was entering in to the adventure the artists had started, being somehow near the heart of what Miro’ was painting, of what Chagall was inventing. That was my joy.”
It is possible that part of Pierre Matisse’s reticence in matters of out and-out dealing may stem from his father’s vehement dislike of art dealers as a group. Henri Matisse had strong objections to his son’sembracing a career he considered heinous.
“My father didn’t like it at all that I became an art dealer,” recalls Pierre Matisse. “He thought it was a distasteful occupation. In fact, he wanted me to change my name so that the name Matisse would not be associated with such a profession. It was only later, when I was not just his son but already Pierre Matisse, that he came to terms with it. Still, early on he would not allow me to show or sell his work.
“I remember asking him for some paintings to show in my New York gallery. When he refused, I decided to show some watercolors by Raoul Dufy. Well, when he heard that, he was furious once again, because at the time he held a grudge against Dufy. My father felt that Dufy had been copying him, which is not true at all. They were entirely different artists-different temperaments. Dufy was purely decorative, Matisse had far greater dept. Nevertheless, Dufy’s name was anathema in my family. Still, I showed his work. I told my father, ‘Well, since you won’t give me any of your pictures, I’ll show Dufy.’ That kept him quiet for a while.”
To be the son of Henri Matisse may have been a mixed blessing, but by Pierre Matisse’s admission, it did enable him to win the respect and confidence of the School of Paris artists. Through his father he met most of the painters andsculptors he would eventually exhibit in New York, and through his father he became acutely conscious of the vicissitudesof the creative process.
“People say that Matisse was the painter of joy. But. ” Claims h is son,”I know only too well the anxieties my father went through to express this joy. I recall his telling me that the artists is like a racehorse-one day he runs well, the next day he runs very badly-that artists are too nervous, too sensitive, that they are in a constant state of tension, always wondering if the public will hear their voices again tomorrow.
“So growing up in my father’s house made me aware of what an artists goes through to make art. People think that artists just paint, snatching things out of the air. But it isn’t so. Art can be a painful thing. And to be an artists, you have to be in the hands of a passion you cant’t avoid.”
It is this deeply rooted knowledge that has given Pierre Matisse his lifelong understanding of what being an artists is all about. And it is his quality of insight that undoubtedly convinced the young Miro’, Chagall, Balthus and others to place their work into his dedicated handds.
The measure of this conviction is confirmed by the fact that the Pierre Matisse Gallery has held thirty-seven Miro’ exhibitions since 1932, seven by Balthus since 1938, fifteen by Chagall since 1941, twelve by Dubuffet since 1947, and five by Giacometti since 1948. there have been major shows by Georges Rouault, Yves Tanguy. Alexander Calder, Giorgio de Chirico, Wifredo Lam and Matta.
The dealer is saddened by the recent loss of such friends as Miro’. Chagall and Dubuffet. “Miro’ was anangel,” he says. “When he died, it was just as if a light went out. You know, my father once said that Miro’ was his favorite contemporary painter. He didn’t quite understand what Miro’ placed a red dot or a blue star in a particular place on the canvas, that place was uniquely right, and without it the whole picture would fall apart. Well, I loved Miro’ too, because his art was so open,so true, so honest. It gave me immense pleasure. Miro’ was a man of dignity and pride. He was very modest, but he knew he had something to say, and he said it.
“I met Chagall in Paris in 1924,” Matisse continues. “Thanks to my name, I was able to borrow some of his paintings for America. But I’ll never forget how reluctant he was to part with his work. I’d point out a painting I wanted to borrow, and he’d say, “Oh, not that one! My wife likes that one so much. She’d be awfully sad if I were to let it go.” So I’d point to another one, and he’d say, “Thats the one my daughter is very fond of” Then I would ask about a third one, and again he’d say, “Oh, I need that one for my work.” Well finally, after much prodding, I did manage to obtain a few paintings.
“Of corse, when he came to the United States in 1941, every dealer was after him. I remember Paul Rosenberg telling Chagall that if he joined his gallery, he would be in the company of van Gogh, Manet and Renoir. But Chagall refused, thinking he’d be the little artists at the end of the line. He wanted to be the big artists at the head of the line, so he decided to come with me. We gave him an American exhibition that year, and he continued to give us his work.”
Another of the artists Matisse was involved with was Jean Dubuffet. “I found Dubuffet’s imagery rather confusing. I kept wondering if it wasn’t a bit childish. And so I engaged him in conversation, attempting to see if there weren’t some cracks at the foundation of his work. Well, he spoke with such fire and passion that he convinced me that what he was doing was entirely serious. Then and there I decided to purchase fifteen of his paintings and that’s how Dubuffet was first shown in America.”
Pierre Matisse pauses, then adds, “It’s so sad that so many of my artists have died-de Chirico, Tanguy, Giacometti, Calder, Miro’, Chagall, Dubuffet….It’s like sitting in a garden and seeing the fruits fall off the trees, one after the other.”
Maria-Gaetana Matisse, who assists her husband in running the gallery, says of him: “Pierre is very modest, very knowledgeable. He is that rare breed: a gallery owner who is quite sorry to see a work of art go. Deep down he is an artist, in the sense that he can fully relate to other artists.
“Pierre speaks very little about his family,” Mme Matisse continues. “He does not reflect unduly upon his famous father. His mother was very strong, but again Pierre is reluctant to talk about her. His brother and sister are both gone-he’s the only one left. He loves to be surrounded by young people,but he’s loyal to his old frieds. He is, of course, getting on, but he does not intend to retire. The gallery is his life. Without it, and without the friendship of his artists, Pierre would be utterly lost.”
Pierre Matisse's association with Joan Miro' developed into a lifelong frienship that resulted in over thirty exhibition of the artists work.
