A Persian mid-relief (mezzo-rilievo) from the Qajar era, located at Tangeh Savashi in Iran, which might also be described as two stages of low-relief.

Relief, or relievo rilievo, is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane.^[1] What is actually performed when a relief is cut in from a flat surface of stone or wood is a lowering of the field, leaving the unsculpted parts seemingly raised. The technique involves considerable chiselling away of the background, which is a time-consuming exercise with little artistic effect if the lowered background is left plain, as is often the case. On the other hand, a relief saves forming the rear of a subject, and is less fragile and more securely fixed than a sculpture in the round, especially one of a standing figure where the ankles are a potential weak point, especially in stone. In other materials such as metal, clay, plaster stucco, ceramics or papier-mache the form can be just added to or raised up from the background, and monumental bronze reliefs are made by casting.

There are different degrees of relief depending on the degree of projection of the sculpted form from the field, for which the Italian appellations are still sometimes used. The full range includes high relief (alto-rilievo), where more than 50% of the depth is shown and there may be undercut areas, mid-relief (mezzo-rilievo), low-relief (basso-rilievo, or French: bas-relief), and shallow-relief or rilievo schiacciato,^[2] where the plane is scarcely more than scratched in order to remove background material. There is also sunk relief, which was mainly restricted to Ancient Egypt. However the distinction between high relief and low relief is the clearest and most important, and these two are generally the only terms used to discuss most work. The definition of these terms is somewhat variable, and many works combine areas in more than one of them, sometimes sliding between them in a single figure; accordingly some writers prefer to avoid all distinctions.^[3] The opposite of relief sculpture is counter-relief, intaglio, or cavo-rilievo,^[4] where the form is cut into the field or background rather than rising from it; this is very rare in monumental sculpture.

Reliefs are common throughout the world on the walls of buildings and a variety of smaller settings, and a sequence of several panels or sections of relief may represent an extended narrative. Relief is more suitable for depicting complicated subjects with many figures and very active poses, such as battles, than free-standing "sculpture in the round". Most ancient architectural reliefs were originally painted, which helped to define forms in low relief. The subject of reliefs is for convenient reference assumed in this article to be usually figures, but sculpture in relief often depicts decorative geometrical or foliage patterns, as in the arabesques of Islamic art, and may be of any subject.

A face of the high-relief Frieze of Parnassus round the base of the Albert Memorial in London. Most of the heads and many feet are completely undercut, but the torsos are "engaged" with the surface behind.

Types[link]

Lorenzo Ghiberti's cast gilt-bronze "Gates of Paradise" at the Baptistery, Florence combine high-relief main figures with backgrounds mostly in low relief.

The distinction between high and low relief is somewhat subjective, and the two are very often combined in a single work. In particular, most later "high reliefs" contain sections in low relief, usually in the background. From the Parthenon Frieze onwards, many single figures have heads in high relief, but their lower legs are in in low relief; the slightly projecting figures created in this way work well in reliefs that are seen from below (see Moissac portal in gallery). As unfinished examples from various periods show, raised reliefs, whether high or low, were normally "blocked out" by marking the outline of the figure and reducing the background areas to the new background level, work no doubt performed by apprentices (see gallery).

Hyphens may or may not be used in all these terms, though they are rarely seen in "sunk relief" and are usual in "bas-relief" and "counter-relief". Works in the technique are described as "in relief", and, especially in monumental sculpture, the work itself is "a relief".

Low-relief on Sestertius of Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus, 238 AD

Bas-relief or low relief[link]

A bas-relief ("low relief", French pronunciation: [baʁəljɛf], from the Italian basso rilievo) or low relief is a projecting image with a shallow overall depth, for example used on coins, on which all images are in low relief. In the lowest reliefs the relative depth of the elements shown is completely distorted, and if seen from the side the image makes no sense, but from the front the small variations in depth register as a three-dimensional image. Other versions distort depth much less. It is a technique which requires less work, and is therefore cheaper to produce, as less of the background needs to be removed in a carving, or less modelling is required. In the art of Ancient Egypt and other ancient Near Eastern and Asian cultures, and also Meso-America, a very low relief was commonly used for the whole composition. These images would all be painted after carving, which helped to define the forms; today the paint has worn off in the great majority of surviving examples, but minute, invisible remains of paint can usually be discovered through chemical means.

The Ishtar Gate of Babylon, now in Berlin, has low reliefs of large animals formed from moulded bricks, glazed in colour. Plaster was sometimes used in Egypt and Rome, and probably elsewhere, but needs very good conditions to survive - Roman decorative plasterwork is mainly known from Pompeii and other sites buried by ash from Mount Vesuvius. Low relief was relatively rare in Western medieval art, but may be found, for example in wooden figures or scenes on the insides of the folding wings of multi-panel altarpieces.

The revival of low relief, which was seen as a classical style, begins early in the Renaissance; the Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini, a pioneering classicist building, designed by Leon Battista Alberti around 1450, uses low reliefs by Agostino di Duccio inside and on the external walls. Since the Renaissance plaster has been very widely used for indoor ornamental work such as cornices and ceilings, but in the 16th century it was used for large figures (many also using high relief) at the Chateau of Fontainebleau, which were imitated more crudely elsewhere, for example in the Elizabethan Hardwick Hall.

In later Western art, until a 20th century revival, low relief was used mostly for smaller works or combined with higher relief to convey a sense of distance, or to give depth to the composition, especially for scenes with many figures and a landscape or architectural background, in the same way that lighter colours are used for the same purpose in painting. Thus figures in the foreground are sculpted in high-relief, those in the background in low-relief. Low relief may use any medium or technique of sculpture, stone carving and metal casting being most common. Large architectural compositions all in low relief saw a revival in the 20th century, being popular on buildings in Art Deco and related styles, which borrowed from the ancient low reliefs now available in museums.^[5] Some sculptors, including Eric Gill, have adopted the "squashed" depth of low relief in works that are actually free-standing.

Mid-relief, "half-relief" or mezzo-rilievo is somewhat imprecisely defined, and the term is not often used in English, the works usually being described as low relief instead. The typical traditional definition is that only up to half of the subject projects, and no elements are undercut or fully disengaged from the background field. The depth of the elements shown is normally somewhat distorted. Shallow-relief or rilievo stiacciato, used for the background areas of compositions with the main elements in low-relief, was perfected by the Italian Renaissance sculptor Donatello. It is a very shallow relief, which merges into engraving in places, and can be hard to read in photographs.^[6]

High relief[link]

High relief metope from the Classical Greek Elgin Marbles. Some front limbs are actually detached from the background completely, while the centaur's left rear leg is in low relief.

High relief (or alto rilievo, from Italian) is where in general more than half the mass of the sculpted figure projects from the background, indeed the most prominent elements of the composition, especially heads and limbs, are often completely undercut, detaching them from the field. The parts of the subject that are seen are normally depicted at their full depth, unlike low relief where the elements seen are "squashed" flatter. High-relief thus uses essentially the same style and techniques as free-standing sculpture, and in the case of a single figure gives largely the same view as a person standing directly in front of a free-standing statue would have. All cultures and periods in which large sculptures were created used this technique in monumental sculpture and architecture.

Most of the many grand figure reliefs in Ancient Greek sculpture used a very "high" version of high-relief, with elements often fully free of the background, and parts of figures crossing over each other to indicate depth. The metopes of the Parthenon have largely lost their fully rounded elements, except for heads, showing the advantages of relief in terms of durability. High relief has remained the dominant form for reliefs with figures in Western sculpture, also being common in Indian temple sculpture. Smaller Greek sculptures such as private tombs, and smaller decorative areas such as friezes on large buildings, more often used low relief. Hellenistic and Roman sarcophagus reliefs were largely cut with a drill rather than chisels, enabling and encouraging compositions extremely crowded with figures, which are also seen in the enormous strips of reliefs that wound round Roman triumphal columns. The sarcophagi in particular exerted a huge influence on later Western sculpture. The European Middle Ages tended to use high relief for all purposes in stone, though like Ancient Roman sculpture their reliefs were typically not as high as in Ancient Greece.^[7] Very high relief re-emerged in the Renaissance, and was especially used in wall-mounted funerary art and later on Neo-classical pediments and public monuments.

Sunk relief[link]

A sunk-relief depiction of Pharaoh Akhenaten with his wife Nefertiti and daughters. The main background has not been removed, merely that in the immediate vicinity of the sculpted form. Note how strong shadows are needed to define the image.

Sunk or sunken relief is largely restricted to the art of Ancient Egypt where it is very common, becoming after the Amarna period of Ahkenaten the dominant type used, as opposed to low relief. It had been used earlier, but mainly for large reliefs on external walls, and for hieroglyphs and cartouches. The image is made by cutting the relief sculpture itself into a flat surface. In a simpler form the images are usually mostly linear in nature, like hieroglyphs, but in most cases the figure itself is in low relief, but set within a sunken area shaped round the image, so that the relief never rises beyond the original flat surface. In some cases the figures and other elements are in a very low relief that does not rise to the original surface, but others are modelled more fully, with some areas rising to the original surface. This method minimizes the work removing the background, while allowing normal relief modelling. The technique is most successful with strong sunlight to emphasise the outlines and forms by shadow, as no attempt was made to soften the edge of the sunk area, leaving a face at a right-angle to the surface all around it. Some reliefs, especially funerary monuments with heads or busts from ancient Rome and later Western art, leave a "frame" at the original level around the edge of the relief, or place a head in a hemispherical recess in the block (see Roman example in gallery). Though essentially very similar to Egyptian sunk relief, but with a background space at the lower level around the figure, the term would not normally be used of such works.

Counter-relief[link]

French Gothic diptych, 25 cm (9.8 in) high, with crowded scenes from the Life of Christ, c.1350-1365.

Sunk relief technique is not to be confused with "counter-relief" or intaglio as seen on engraved gem seals — where an image is fully modelled in a "negative" manner. The image goes into the surface, so that when impressed on wax it gives an impression in normal relief.

However many engraved gems were carved in cameo or normal relief.

A few very late Hellenistic monumental carvings in Egypt use full "negative" modelling as though on a gem seal, perhaps as sculptors trained in the Greek tradition attempted to use traditional Egyptian conventions.^[8]

Small objects[link]

Small-scale reliefs have been carved in various materials, notably ivory, wood, and wax. Reliefs are often found in decorative arts such as ceramics and metalwork; these are less often described as "reliefs" than as "in relief". Small bronze reliefs are often in the form of "plaques", which may be set in furniture or framed. Various modelling techniques are used, such repoussé ("pushed-back") in metalwork, where a thin metal plate is hammered from behind, sometimes with a stamp bearing a design, automatically producing a relief. Casting has also been widely used in bronze and other metals. In stone, as well as engraved gems, larger hardstone carvings in semi-precious stones have been highly prestigious since ancient times in many Eurasian cultures. Reliefs in wax were produced at least from the Renaissance.

Carved ivory reliefs have been used since ancient times, and because the material, though expensive, cannot usually be re-used, they have a relatively high survival rate, and for example consular diptychs represent a large proportion of the survivals of portable secular art from Late Antiquity. In the Gothic period the carving of ivory reliefs became a considerable luxury industry in Paris and other centres. As well as small diptychs and triptychs with densely packed religious scenes, usually from the New Testament, secular objects, usually in a lower relief, were also produced. These were often round mirror-cases, combs, handles and other small items, but included a few larger caskets like the Casket with Scenes of Romances (Walters 71264) in Baltimore. Originally there were very often painted in bright colours. Reliefs can be impressed by stamps onto clay, or the clay pressed into a mould bearing the design, as was usual with the mass-produced terra sigillata of Ancient Roman pottery. Decorative reliefs in plaster or stucco may be much larger; this form of architectural decoration is found in many styles of interiors in the post-Renaissance West, and in Islamic architecture.

Gallery[link]

• 

  Sunk relief as low relief within a sunk outline, from the Luxor Temple in Egypt, carved in very hard granite

• 

  low relief within a sunk outline, linear sunk relief in the hieroglyphs, and high relief (right), from Luxor

• 

  "Blocked-out" unfinished low relief of Ahkenaten and Nefertiti; unfinished Greek high-reliefs show the same method of beginning a work.

• 

  Bas-relief in Persepolis - a symbol of Zoroastrian Nowruz - in day of a spring equinox power of eternally fighting bull (personifying the Earth), and a lion (personifying the Sun), are equal

• PersepolistwoPersianSoldiers.jpg

  Two Persian Soldiers in Persepolis

• 

  Rock-face relief at Naqsh-e Rustam of Iranian emperor Shapur I (on horseback) capturing Roman emperor Valerian (kneeing) and Philip the Arab (standing)

• 

  Egyptian figures in "alto relievo"

• 

  Atropos cutting the thread of life. Ancient Greek low relief.

• 

  Roman funerary relief with frame at original level, but not sunk relief

• 

  The Roman Warren Cup, silver repoussé work

• 

  Yaxchilan Lintel 24, a Mayan carving depicting a blood sacrifice

• 

  A bas-relief at Banteay Srei in Cambodia depicts Ravana shaking Mount Kailasa, the Abode of Lord Siva.

• 

  Temple at Khajuraho, India

• 

  The 12th century Romanesque portal of Christ in Majesty at Moissac Abbey moves between low and high relief in a single figure.

• 

  Harbaville Triptych, Byzantine ivory

• 

  Side view of high relief: Madonna and Child, marble of c. 1500/1510 by an unknown north Italian sculptor

• 

  The elaborate stucco (plaster) reliefs decorating the Chateau de Fontainebleau were hugely influential. Low-relief decorative frieze above.

• St GuadensShaw Mem.jpg

  Robert Gould Shaw Memorial, 1897, Boston, combining free-standing elements with high and low relief.

• 

  A relatively modern high relief (depicting shipbuilding) in Bishopsgate, London. Note that some elements jut out of the frame of the image.

• Iowa City Press Citizen Bldg.jpg

  Art Deco tiled bas relief, old Press-Citizen Building, Iowa City, Iowa.

• 

  Elizabeth Wyn Wood's Bas-relief at Ryerson University in Toronto

• 

  Bas-Relief Sculptures at Unakoti,Tripura, india

Notable reliefs[link]

Notable examples of monumental reliefs include:

• Ancient Egypt: Most Egyptian temples, e.g. the Temple of Karnak
• Assyria: A famous collection is in the British Museum, Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
• Ancient Persia: Persepolis, and rock-face reliefs at Naqsh-e Rustam and Naqsh-e Rajab
• Ancient Greece: The Parthenon Marbles, Bassae Frieze, Great Altar of Pergamon, Ludovisi Throne
• Mesopotamia: Ishtar Gate of Babylon
• Ancient Rome: Ara Pacis, Trajan's Column, Column of Marcus Aurelius, triumphal arches, Portonaccio sarcophagus
• Medieval Europe: Many cathedrals and other churches, such as Chartres Cathedral and Bourges Cathedral
• India: Sanchi, base of the Lion Capital of Asoka, the rock-cut Elephanta Caves and Ellora Caves, Khajuraho temples, Mahabalipuram with the Descent of the Ganges, and many South Indian temples,Unakoti group of sculptures(bas relief) at Kailashahar, Unakoti District, Tripura, India
• South-East Asia: Borobodur in Java, Angkor Wat in Cambodia,
• Glyphs, Mayan stelae and other reliefs of the Maya and Aztec civilizations
• United States: Stone Mountain, Robert Gould Shaw Memorial, Boston, Mount Rushmore National Memorial,
• UK: Base panels of Nelson's Column, Frieze of Parnassus

Smaller-scale reliefs:

• Ivory: Nimrud ivories from much of the Near East, Late Antique Consular diptychs, the Byzantine Harbaville Triptych and Veroli Casket, the Anglo-Saxon Franks Casket, Cloisters Cross.
• Silver: Warren Cup, Gundestrup cauldron, Mildenhall Treasure, Berthouville Treasure, Missorium of Theodosius I, Lomellini Ewer and Basin.
• Gold: Berlin Gold Hat, Bimaran casket, Panagyurishte Treasure
• Glass: Portland Vase, Lycurgus Cup

See also[link]

• Repoussé and chasing
• Relief printing - a different concept.
• Pargetting - English exterior plaster reliefs

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Avery, Charles, in Grove Art Online, "Relief sculpture", accessed April 7, 2011

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Reliefs

External links[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Basso-Relievo.

• Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, "American Relief Sculpture", Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
• Melissa Hardiman, "Bas-Relief Pathfinder"

Chris Garneau
Background information
Birth name	Christopher Michael Garneau
Genres	Baroque pop Indie folk
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals Piano Guitar Harmonium
Years active	2006-present
Labels	Absolutely Kosher Fargo Records
Associated acts	Xiu Xiu
Website	chrisgarneau.com

Chris Garneau is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Garneau's sound combines elements of folk, Americana, pop, baroque, and carnival music.^{[original research?]} Since releasing his debut album, Music for Tourists, Garneau has toured throughout the United States, Canada, Brazil, Europe, and Asia.

Garneau cites Jeff Buckley, Nina Simone, Nico, and Chan Marshall as influences.^[1] He lives in Brooklyn, New York. His second full-length album, titled El Radio was released July 7, 2009.

Early life[link]

Garneau, a native of Boston, lived with his family in Paris during grade school, and later New Jersey before moving to New York City. Garneau discovered a love of music at a young age while learning to play piano. After high school, Garneau briefly attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left after completing one term and moved to Brooklyn. There he began writing music and playing live shows at small venues in the East Village and Lower East Side of Manhattan, including CBGB's Gallery and the Living Room.

Career[link]

Garneau eventually signed with Absolutely Kosher Records, an Emeryville, California-based record label. He was brought to the label by Jamie Stewart and Caralee McElroy of Xiu Xiu. Garneau released his debut album Music for Tourists in October 2006 and on iTunes in January 2007. In March 2007 he did a Take-Away Show video session shot by Vincent Moon. His next project, an EP called "C-Sides", was released in December 2007.

The soundtrack to season four of TV's Grey's Anatomy includes Garneau's music. The episode "Love/Addiction" features his song "Castle-Time," and the episode "Forever Young" features the song "Black and Blue."^{[citation needed]} The series premiere of Private Practice, "In Which We Meet Addison, a Nice Girl From Somewhere Else," features the song "Sad News."^{[citation needed]}

Garneau has also appeared on Logo's NewNowNext Music television show where he talked about Music for Tourists and his video for "Relief".

His cover of Elliott Smith's "Between the Bars" was featured in Pedro Almodovar's 2011 film The Skin I Live In.

He has been collaborating on a yet-to-be-named musical project with Caralee McElroy.^[2]

Discography[link]

• Music for Tourists (2006)
• C-Sides EP (2007)
• El Radio (2009)

References[link]

1. ^ "The Narcissist Issue: Chris Garneau; Hottie Musician With Skills". Queerty.com. 2006-09-26. Archived from the original on 2007-01-25. http://web.archive.org/web/20070125035311/http://www.queerty.com/queer/the-narcissist-issue/the-narcissist-issue-chris-garneau-20060926.php. Retrieved 2007-06-12. 
2. ^ Chris Garneau: The New Gay Interview. May 27, 2009.

External links[link]

• Official website

Sam Amidon (who also produced one album under the name "Samamidon") is an American independent folk artist born in Brattleboro, Vermont, June 3, 1981. His parents are folk artists Peter and Mary Alice Amidon.^[1] His younger brother, Stefan Amidon, is a professional drummer who performs with The Sweetback Sisters^[2] among other groups. Sam attended The Putney School in Putney, Vermont. Sam currently lives near New York City.^[3] His first album, "But this Chicken Proved False Hearted", was made with longtime collaborator Thomas Bartlett, whose band, Doveman, Amidon is also a member of. His second album, All is Well, was produced, recorded and mixed in Iceland by Valgeir Sigurðsson at Greenhouse Studios. His third album, I See the Sign -- also produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson -- was released in 2010.^[4]

Sam Amidon at Iceland Airwaves 2008

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Solo Fiddle (2001)
• Home Alone Inside My Head (2003)
• But this Chicken Proved False Hearted (as Samamidon) (2007)
• All Is Well (2008)
• Fiddle and Drum (2009) with Aaron Siegel
• I See The Sign (2010)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Times Online - Sam Amidon and the folk revival
• Sam Amidon on YouTube
• Sam Amidon's Official website
• Sam Amidon at Myspace
• Interview on Musicletter, February 2008
• Folk Radio UK Review of I See the Sign
• Two and a Half Questions with Sam Amidon - Interview on Headphone Commute (April, 2010)

This article about an American musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Kate Moss
Moss in 2005
Born	(1974-01-16) 16 January 1974 (age 38) Addiscombe, Croydon, London, England
Occupation	Model
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)[1]
Hair colour	Brown[2]
Eye colour	Hazel
Dress size	UK 6 – US 2 – EU 34[2]
Manager	Storm Model Management D'management Group Marilyn Model Agency IMG Models
Spouse	Jamie Hince (m. 2011) «start: (2011-07)»"Marriage: Jamie Hince to Kate Moss" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Kate_Moss)
Children	1

Kate Moss (born 16 January 1974) is an English model who is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on eating disorders, and her role in size zero fashion. In 2007, she came 2nd on the Forbes top-earning models list, estimated to have earned $9 million in one year.^[3]

Early life[link]

Moss was born in Addiscombe, Croydon, London to Linda Rosina (Shepherd), a barmaid, and Peter Edward Moss, a travel agent.^[4] Kate has a younger brother named Nick and a half-sister named Lottie (Charlotte) and half-brother.^[5][6][7] Moss' parents divorced when she was 13. She attended Ridgeway Primary School and Riddlesdown Collegiate, but most commonly known as Riddlesdown High School, in Purley. She was not noted for her academic success but she did excel at sport.

Career[link]

Moss was discovered in 1988 at the age of 14 by Sarah Doukas, the founder of Storm Model Management, at JFK Airport in New York City,^[8] after a holiday in the Bahamas. Moss's career began when Corinne Day shot black-and-white photographs of her, styled by Melanie Ward, for British magazine The Face when she was 16, in a photo shoot titled "The 3rd Summer of Love". Day discovered Kate Moss when she was a young and unknown model and described the pictures that she took of Moss as ‘dirty realism’ or ‘grunge’.^[9]Moss then went on to become the "anti-supermodel" of the 1990s^{[citation needed]} in contrast to the "supermodels" of the moment^{[citation needed]}, such as Cindy Crawford, Elle Macpherson, Claudia Schiffer, and Naomi Campbell, who were known^{[citation needed]} for their curvaceous and tall figures.

Moss was voted 9th in Maxim's "50 Sexiest Women of 1999" and 22nd in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women of 1995". Men's magazine Arena named her as their Sexiest Woman in their 150th issue. She was presented on the November 1999 Millennium cover of American Vogue as one of the "Modern Muses".^[10] In March 2007, Moss won the Sexiest Woman NME Award.^[11] She made her first appearance in the British women's Sunday Times Rich List in 2007, where she was estimated to be worth £45 million. She ranked as the 99th richest woman in Britain.^[12] In the 2009 Rich List, she was ranked as the 1,348th richest person in the UK, with a net worth of £40 million.^[13]

In July 2007, when she had earned an estimated total of $9 million in the preceding 12 months, Forbes magazine named her second on the list of the World's 15 top-earning models list.^[3]

Style[link]

Moss ushered in the heroin chic look in 1993^{[citation needed]} (which prompted much speculation over her weight) with a highly publicised campaign for Calvin Klein. Her depiction in photographs also drew criticism from then-President of the United States Bill Clinton, who spoke out against the growing heroin chic trend.^[14] When questioned about her weight, Moss commented, "It was just the time. It was a swing from more buxom girls like Cindy Crawford and people were shocked to see what they called a 'waif'. What can you say? How many times can you say 'I'm not anorexic'?"^[15]

In addition to being known for her modelling work, Kate Moss is also an international fashion icon.^[16] She has garnered many awards for her style, including the Council of Fashion Designers of America's fashion influence award and a place on the Vanity Fair international best-dressed list.^[17][18] In the early part of the 21st century, she was, together with actress Sienna Miller, one of the main proponents of boho-chic.^{[citation needed]} She appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair's September 2006 style issue. In recent years, she has popularised denim cutoff shorts,^[19] Ugg boots, ballet flats, Vivienne Westwood Pirate Boots, skinny jeans, waistcoat, Alexander McQueen's skull scarf, Louis Vuitton's Sprouse Leopard Cashmere Scarf, and the Balenciaga handbag.^[20]

In 2008, Moss was added to PETA's 'Worst-Dressed' Celebrities of 2008'^[21] because of her frequent use of fur.

Campaigns[link]

Moss has had campaigns with major Italian, French, American, and British designers including Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Rimmel,^[22] and Bulgari. She has been featured in fashion spreads in most major fashion magazines including UK, US, and French Vogue magazines (as well as other international versions of Vogue), Another Man, Vanity Fair, the Face, and W. Moss has appeared on the cover of British Vogue 30 times,^[23] in addition to dozens of other international Vogue covers, and has been featured on the cover of 17 issues of W, including one issue with nine different covers that featured the model. W even names Moss its muse (September 2003 issue). She has worked with the most well-known photographers in the fashion industry, such as Mario Testino, Mario Sorrenti, Steven Klein, Juergen Teller, and Peter Lindbergh, and won the prestigious Vogue/CFDA award from the Fashion Designers of America in July 2005 as Fashion Inspiration.^{[citation needed]}

April 2005 saw the launch of the Rimmel London mascara TV ad featuring a leather-clad Kate Moss riding a motorbike through London to the sound of the rock song "Another Cold Beer" by Steven Crayn, an advertising campaign that is still running.^{[citation needed]}

Twelve months after her cocaine scandal, Moss made a comeback by bagging 18 top modelling contracts for the Autumn/Winter 2006 season including Rimmel, Agent Provocateur, Virgin Mobile, Calvin Klein Jeans and Burberry.^{[citation needed]} Moss designed a collection, in collaboration with Katy England, for Topshop.^[24] Moss launched a fragrance and body lotion range bearing her name in association with Coty in 2007.^[25]

According to Forbes, Moss has earned more money since her cocaine scandal than ever before: her 2004–2005 earnings were $5 million^[26] and her 2005–2006 earnings were $8 million.^[27] In 2007, with estimated earnings of $9 million, she was the second highest paid model in the world, behind Gisele Bündchen.^[3]

In November 2006, Moss won the Model of the Year prize at the British Fashion Awards, the top accolade in British fashion, but the award divided opinion and stirred fresh controversy.^[28]

On 27 September 2007, The Sun published a story entitled, "Kate Moss dumped by seven brands", describing her "cocaine honeymoon" as fading away. The story continues by stating that in autumn 2006 she had eighteen contracts in comparison to 2007's eleven, and that in 2006 fashion bible Vogue had six campaigns using Moss including Dior, Louis Vuitton and Burberry, but November 2007's issue has none. The story concludes by saying that an industry source has said "She is still very big but the honeymoon period has ended."^[29]

In 2012 Moss appeared as a Model for the Spring/Summer Collection for Supreme

Fashion designer[link]

On 1 May 2007, a collection of clothes designed by Moss exclusively for the Topshop chain were launched across the UK in the chain's 225 stores. A Kate Moss "countdown to launch" board filled a window of the company's flagship Oxford Street store and on 30 April, Moss launched the clothing line at Topshop in Oxford Street, where she briefly appeared in the shop window modelling a red dress from the clothing collection just before the shop was opened, causing a media frenzy.^[30] Topshop reportedly paid Moss £3 million for her work.^[30] The collection of fifty designs included clothes, bags, shoes and belts, where prices range from £12 for a vest top to £150 for a cropped leather jacket. Clothes in the collection included skinny jeans, one-shoulder minidresses and T-shirts with the letter K woven into the design.^[31] The Topshop range was later released in the United States at the New York chain store Barneys.^[32]

In a collaboration with Coty, Moss has released four fragrances.^{[citation needed]} In early 2010, it was revealed that she had designed a range of handbags for luxury goods house Longchamp.^[33]

Alan McGee, Kate Moss, and BP Fallon DJing at Death Disco NY in 2004

Other endeavours[link]

Moss appeared on Oasis singles "Don't Go Away" (1998) and "Fade Away" (1994), and on the Be Here Now album (1997), playing tambourine, Johnny Depp playing a guitar.

She has appeared in music videos such as "Kowalski" by Primal Scream, "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" by the White Stripes, "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" by Elton John, "Sex with Strangers" by Marianne Faithfull, "Love Don't Bother Me" by Stage Dolls, and "Delia's Gone" and "God's Gonna Cut You Down" by Johnny Cash.

She has also provided vocals for songs by Primal Scream (the 2003 version of "Some Velvet Morning"), Babyshambles ("La Belle et la Bête") and The Lemonheads ("You're a Dirty Robot"). Prior to breaking up with Pete Doherty, Moss co-wrote four songs on Babyshambles' second album Shotter's Nation—"You Talk", "French Dog Blues", "Baddie's Boogie", and "Deft Left Hand".

In 1999, Moss played a non-musical role in the British screen comedy Blackadder: Back & Forth, appearing both as Maid Marian and as a fictional Queen of England "who looks good naked".^[34] Director and writer Richard Curtis said in the making of video, that they wanted "the best looking woman in England" to play the role.^[35]

Moss has also been the subject of portraits by contemporary artists such as Lucian Freud and Chuck Close. In 2005, a painting of Moss by Freud sold for £3.93 million at a Christie's auction.^[36] Close has taken a series of daguerreotypes of Moss, which he has also translated into Jacquard tapestry.^[37]

In October 2010, she appeared on the cover of Bryan Ferry's album Olympia.

In January 2012, having seen a performance by Dutch illusionist Hans Klok on the BBC's The One Show, Moss called fashion designer Stella McCartney and recommended that she book him as one of the attractions at her London Fashion Week show the following month.^[38][39] It was originally planned that Moss, a self-confessed magic fan, would act as Klok's assistant, and she spent several days working with him to rehearse three illusions, a levitation, a sawing in half and a guillotine illusion. However, she was forced to drop out of the show after suffering temporary paralysis of her right arm due to a trapped nerve, and her place was taken by TV presenter and model Alexa Chung.^[39][40]

Charity work[link]

Moss has been a supporter of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity, and in the 1990s featured in one of their target T-shirt campaigns.^{[citation needed]} She also supported War Child.^{[citation needed]} Moss also designed a charm in a necklace for Wallis in 2007 in aid of Cancer Research UK and said "I am happy to give my support to help fund crucial research, as so many lives are affected by this terrible disease".^[41]

She has also helped to launch the SamandRuby charity in March 2006. The charity was started to provide funding for the education and shelter of Thai children. The SamandRuby organisation is named after a friend of Moss's, Samantha Archer Fayet, and her 6-month-old daughter Ruby Rose who were killed by the Tsunami while visiting Thailand.^{[citation needed]} Moss also supports the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Hoping Foundation, the Lucie Blackman Trust, Make Poverty History, Comic Relief and Homes of Hope.^[42]

On 22 November 2006, Moss recorded an appearance in a Little Britain sketch for Comic Relief at the Hammersmith Apollo as a character called Katie Pollard, sister of Vicky Pollard played by Matt Lucas.^[43]

Moss made a short film with Misery Bear for the March 2011 Comic Relief event entitled "Misery Bear's Comic Relief Starring Kate Moss".^[44]

Personal life[link]

Kate Moss has a daughter, Lila Grace Moss Hack,^[45] born on 29 September 2002, with Dazed & Confused editor Jefferson Hack.

Moss had a relationship with former Libertines member Pete Doherty, first meeting him at her 31st birthday party in January 2005.^[46] On 11 April 2007, Doherty announced Moss as his fiancée during one of his concerts in London, at which Moss also performed.^[47][48] In July 2007, Moss and Doherty split.^{[citation needed]} She was due to model on the catwalk for John Galliano, but was too distraught with her break-up to participate.^[49]

Moss began dating Jamie Hince, guitarist for The Kills in late 2007 with The Sun reporting on 26 March 2008, that they had became engaged during a trip to Amsterdam,^[50] Hince proposing to Moss in bed with a vintage 1920s ring worth more than £10,000.^[51] Moss married Hince on 1 July 2011 at St Peter's Church, Southrop in Gloucestershire; she wore a dress by John Galliano.^[52]

Cocaine scandal[link]

On 15 September 2005, the Daily Mirror ran front page and inside photos that seemed to show Moss snorting several lines of a white powder that was presumed to be cocaine at a Babyshambles recording session. It was also reported that Moss snorted five lines in 40 minutes.^[53] It has been alleged by Babyshambles' singer Pete Doherty that James Mullord, his former manager, sold the photos to the newspaper for more than £150,000 and spent the money on heroin.^[54]

On 20 September 2005, the Swedish fashion retailer H&M, which had intended to feature her in a campaign of their autumn clothes range designed by Stella McCartney, announced it was dropping Moss after the drug allegations.^[55] The contract was reportedly worth £4 million a year.^[56] A day later, Chanel announced that it would not be renewing its contract with Moss, which was set to expire that October, although the company said that its decision had nothing to do with the drug scandal. Burberry also decided to drop Moss's campaign with them.^[57] Moss quickly issued an apology, though she stopped short of admitting drug use.^[58]

Moss continued to appear in major ad campaigns during this period for Dior.^{[citation needed]} She was on the cover of the November 2005 W and also appeared inside in a multi-page fashion shoot. She was also defended by designer Alexander McQueen, who, during his walk-out after a fashion show, wore a t-shirt saying "We love you Kate".^[59] Artist Stella Vine also publicly supported Moss, and paintings by Vine of the model, painted during the scandal, were exhibited and reproduced in the press.^[60]

In November 2005, Moss ended her relationship with Doherty soon after he checked himself out of Meadows Clinic in Arizona, failing to complete a programme for drug rehabilitation.^{[citation needed]} Moss herself underwent successful treatment there in October and had urged Doherty to seek the same treatment himself. Doherty claims that their separation involved other issues, telling The Sun that Moss left him because, "I can’t buy her diamonds."^[61] On 5 January 2006, the Metropolitan Police asked Moss to return from the US to Britain to answer questions about the September 2005 cocaine scandal.^[62] The following day, the Daily Mirror reported that Moss would return to Britain and face arrest for allegations of cocaine usage. She was interviewed by police in London on 31 January 2006, with her solicitor present, but reportedly made no admissions, and she was not arrested (photographs of alleged drug-taking are not admissible evidence in English courts). On 16 June 2006, British police finally dropped the charges for lack of evidence.^[63] Ultimately, Moss was cleared of all charges and resumed her modelling career.^{[citation needed]} Criticism of Moss has continued, and her career revival has been viewed as a sign of moral and cultural decline by critics such as Peter Hitchens.^[64]

Gold statue[link]

A £1.5m ($2.8m) 100% gold statue was made of Moss in 2008 as part of a British Museum exhibition. Entitled Siren, the 50 kg (110 lb) hollow statue was made by Marc Quinn, who described Moss as "the ideal beauty of the moment". The statue is said to be the largest gold statue to be created since the era of Ancient Egypt.^[65]

Quinn had previously unveiled a painted-bronze, life-size sculpture of Moss in a contorted yoga pose, titled Sphinx.^[66]

References[link]

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Buttolph, Angela. Kate Moss: Style. London: Century, 2008. ISBN 1-84605-429-X.
• Collins, Laura. Kate Moss: The Complete Picture. London: Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd, 2008. ISBN 0-283-07063-3.
• Kendall, Katherine. Kate Moss: Model of Imperfection. New York: Penguin Group, 2005. ISBN 1-59609-033-2.
• Moss, Kate. Kate: The Kate Moss Book. New York: Universe, 1997. ISBN 0-7893-0101-6.
• Vermorel, Fred. Addicted To Love: Kate Moss London: Omnibus Press, 2006. ISBN 1-84609-158-6, second (updated) edition, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84609-755-3.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kate Moss

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Kate Moss

• Kate Moss at the Internet Movie Database
• Kate Moss at the Fashion Model Directory
• Kate Moss at People.com
• Full Vogue 8 Aug Article
• Extract from Kate Moss: The Complete Picture by Laura Collins

Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate in 2008
Born	Catherine Ford (1968-05-12) 12 May 1968 (age 44) Bloomsbury, London, England
Residence	Richmond upon Thames, London, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actress, writer, comedienne
Years active	1990–present
Television	The Office Big Train Wild West The Catherine Tate Show Doctor Who
Partner	Twig Clark (until 2011)
Children	Erin Clark (born 2003)

Catherine Tate (born Catherine Ford on 12 May 1968)^[1] is an English actress, writer and comedienne. She has won numerous awards for her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and seven BAFTA Awards. Following the success of The Catherine Tate Show, Tate played Donna Noble in the 2006 Christmas special of Doctor Who and later reprised her role, becoming the Doctor's companion for the fourth series in 2008.^[2] In 2011, she began a recurring role as Nellie Bertram on The Office.

Early life and education[link]

Tate was born in Bloomsbury and brought up in the Brunswick Centre.^[1] Her mother, Josephine, was a florist,^[3] and Tate has said that the character of Margaret in The Catherine Tate Show, who shrieks at the slightest of disturbances, is based largely on Josephine.^[1]

Tate never knew her father, as he left very early on in her life,^[1] and consequently, she was brought up in a female-dominated environment, being cared for by her mother, grandmother and her godparents.^[3] As a child, Tate suffered from an obsessive-compulsive disorder which centred on word association. For example, Tate was not able to leave a jumper on the floor or it might have brought misfortune to her mother whose name began with the letter "J" like jumper.^[1]

She attended St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Macklin Street, Holborn and Notre Dame High School, Southwark, a south London convent secondary school for girls.^[1] By the time Tate was a teenager, she knew she wanted to follow a professional acting career and was subsequently sent to a boys' Roman Catholic school, Salesian College in Battersea at the age of 16. The school had the necessary facilities for drama.^[3] Tate left school without sitting her A-Levels.^[4] She then tried for four years to get a place in the Central School of Speech and Drama (University of London), succeeding on her fourth attempt.^[4] She studied there for three years,^[3][4] and until the age of 26, lived in Holborn and Bloomsbury.^[3] Prior to getting a place at the Central School of Speech and Drama, Tate went to the Sylvia Young Theatre School, but left after a week; "Even at that age, I realised I wasn't Bonnie Langford. It was very competitive", she stated. ^[5]

Career[link]

Beginnings[link]

Tate began her television acting career with roles in serial dramas such as The Bill,^[4] and London's Burning.^[3] Tate started stand-up comedy in 1996,^[6] and has appeared in comedy series such as The Harry Hill Show, Barking and That Peter Kay Thing and a role in Men Behaving Badly.^[7] She played the part of Kate in the unaired pilot episode of sitcom Not Going Out alongside Lee Mack and Tim Vine.^[8] In 1998 she wrote and starred in Barking, a late night sketch show broadcast on Channel 4 and featuring a host of, back then, unknown stars such as David Walliams, Peter Kay and Mackenzie Crook.

Soon after, she became involved with Lee Mack's Perrier Comedy Award-nominated New Bits show at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 2000.^[7] In 2001, she returned to the festival with her own sell-out one-woman show,^[6] which was followed by roles in Big Train,^[5] Attention Scum and TVGoHome.^[7] After being spotted at Edinburgh, she was given the role of Angela in the comedy, Wild West, with Dawn French,^[7] who commented "Catherine Tate is far too talented and she must be destroyed."^[5]

Tate has also performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company,^[5] and at the National Theatre.^[4] She acted the role of Smeraldina in a 2000 RSC production of A Servant to Two Masters, and another role in The Way of the World at the National Theatre.^[9]

2004–05[link]

Tate was approached at a post-show party at the Edinburgh Festival by then-BBC controller of comedy Geoffrey Perkins, who encouraged Tate to develop her character ideas, especially to push the boundaries with teenager Lauren Cooper. Undertaking Perkins' advice, after a live show Tate found the audience walking out of the show repeating the character's catchphrase Am I bovvered?^[10]

Produced by Perkins at Tiger Aspect, Tate was given her own programme on BBC Two in 2004, which she co-wrote and starred in with Derren Litten, entitled The Catherine Tate Show, which ran for three series.^[7] Two of the show's well-known characters are teenager Lauren Cooper and Joannie "Nan" Taylor, the cockney grandmother.^[5] Tate's inspiration for the cockney grandmother came from visits to old people's homes when she was at drama college.^[5] Tate won a British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Newcomer for her work on the first series of The Catherine Tate Show,^[11] and with the first series becoming a success, in March 2005, Tate made a guest appearance during the BBC's Comic Relief as the character of Lauren from The Catherine Tate Show, alongside boy-band McFly, which gained her further exposure.^[6]

In November 2005, Tate appeared in another charity sketch as part of the BBC's annual Children in Need telethon. The segment was a crossover between EastEnders and The Catherine Tate Show, featuring Eastenders characters Peggy Mitchell, Little Mo Mitchell and Stacey Slater, whilst Tate appeared as Lauren.^[12] Also at that time, she was a guest star at the 77th Royal Variety Performance and appeared again in the guise of Lauren Cooper. During the sketch, Tate looked up at the Royal Box and asked The Queen, "Is one bovvered? Is one's face bovvered?".^[13] She also commented during the sketch that Prince Philip had fallen asleep: "she is bling, but the old fella next to her is asleep!" He then reportedly complained to the show's executive producer, saying he had been insulted.^[1] Tate later won a British Comedy Award for Best British Comedy Actress for her work in the second series of The Catherine Tate Show.^[14] At the end of 2005, she appeared in the BBC television adaptation of Bleak House.^[15]

Tate returned to the stage for the first time since working with the RSC,^[16] to play a role in the 2005 West End revival of Some Girl(s), alongside Sara Powell, Lesley Manville, Saffron Burrows and Friends star David Schwimmer.^[17] In an interview, Tate commented that she could not look Schwimmer in the eye during her time with him, leading to speculation that the pair did not get on.^[4] Tate immediately denied the rumours, explaining that she was joking about her attempts to act "cool" around Schwimmer, whom she described as "a very funny, personable man, and easy to get along with".^[18]

2006–07[link]

The third series of The Catherine Tate Show aired in 2006, going on to win the National Television Award for most popular comedy as voted for by the public,^[19] and Tate's catchphrase "bovvered", used by her character Lauren Cooper, became so influential in popular culture that it was named Word of the Year and was even poised to enter the Oxford English Dictionary.^[20] Tate also played the role of Donna Noble in Doctor Who, a woman in a wedding dress who suddenly appears in the TARDIS at the end of the episode "Doomsday".^[21] The following episode, the Christmas special entitled "The Runaway Bride", saw Tate's character in a major role, where she was temporarily the Doctor's companion.^[21] On her appearance in the series, Tate commented "I'm honoured and delighted to be joining David Tennant aboard the TARDIS. I was holding out for a summer season at Wigan rep but as a summer job, this'll do."^[22]

Tate had roles in three films in 2006, these included, Starter for 10, Sixty Six,^[16] and Scenes of a Sexual Nature.^[1] She later appeared in the films Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution, in which she played the title character,^[16] and Love and Other Disasters.^[23]

In the 2007 television adaptation of the novel, The Bad Mother's Handbook, she played the lead role and co-starred with Anne Reid.^[24]

On 16 March 2007, Tate appeared for a second time on Comic Relief as some of her well-known characters from The Catherine Tate Show. She acted in sketches with David Tennant, Daniel Craig, Lenny Henry and the then Prime Minister Tony Blair, who used the show's famous catchphrase, "Am I bovvered?"^[25] Tate also appeared as Joannie "Nan" Taylor in an episode of Deal or No Deal, hosted by Noel Edmonds.^[26]

Tate became a Patron of the performing arts group Theatretrain.

Late 2007–present[link]

Despite speculation that the third series of The Catherine Tate Show would be the last, Tate and the BBC have not ruled out further episodes.^[16] She later filmed a one-off special episode which aired on Christmas Day 2007.^[27] The episode was subject to criticism when 42 viewers complained about the amount of swearing, and accused Tate of bigotry over the depiction of a family from Northern Ireland as terrorists, whose Christmas presents included a balaclava and a pair of knuckle dusters, in reference to the Troubles.^[28] After the complaints were made, an Ofcom report later concluded that the show was not offensive and did not violate broadcasting regulations.^[29][30] An extract from the Ofcom report read "Overall this episode was typical of the Catherine Tate Show and would not have gone beyond the expectations of its usual audience. For those not familiar with the show, the information given at the start was adequate."^[31]

She has also been nominated for four BAFTA Awards for her work on The Catherine Tate Show to date, including Best Comedy Performance.^[32]

Tate returned to Doctor Who in 2008 to reprise the role of Donna Noble as the Doctor's companion throughout the fourth series, which was shown on BBC One starting on 5 April for a 13-week run.^[33] Producer Russell T Davies said, "We are delighted that one of Britain's greatest talents has agreed to join us for the fourth series." Tate added, "I am delighted to be returning to Doctor Who. I had a blast last Christmas and look forward to travelling again through time and space with that nice man from Gallifrey."^[2] At the TV Quick Awards 2008, Tate was voted best actress for her role in Doctor Who.^[34] She returned as Donna Noble in the two-part Doctor Who Christmas special "The End of Time" which was broadcast over Christmas 2009.^[35][36]

In 2008, she starred as Michelle, a 38-year-old promiscuous maths teacher, in David Eldridge's Under The Blue Sky at the Duke of York's Theatre, London, alongside Francesca Annis and Nigel Lindsay. Tate injured her ankle in rehearsal on 15 July. She tackled previews with the aid of a crutch.

On 11 April 2009, 26 December 2009 and 30 January 2010, Tate with David Tennant guest hosted Jonathan Ross' BBC Radio 2 show.

In 2009 she created a one off special spin off to her long running TV sketch show. Although this time the show only starred 'Nan'. In the show, Nan played Scrooge, and was visited by 3 ghosts, one of whom was played by David Tennant. The show was a one off Christmas special.

In 2010, Tate took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.

Tate took part in a series of short comedy films called 'Little Crackers'.^[37]