Life Imitates Art: 4 Whimsical Examples

Including a psychedelic Hermès bag and a jagged light sculpture by Niamh Barry

Colorful surreal landscape artwork beside a vibrant pink and red handbag with mountain design.
Left: Richard Mosse’s *Non-Alignment Pact.* Right: The seamless silk and swift-calfskin Hermès 2002 bag, in Sieste au Paradis. Photo: Left: Richard Mosse, Courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery. Right: Courtesy of Hermès

Gold spiral sculpture next to abstract black metal artwork in a minimalist gallery setting
Left: Florentine jewelry designer Elsa Peretti has created many of Tiffany & Co.’s most enduring, sumptuous collections, including the Open Heart, Bone, and Bean. The undulating strands of Wave, her classic nine-row bracelet, emulate the peaceful movement of the ocean and further cement her legacy for artful design. Right: Brilliant LED lights illuminate the crisscrossing lines of bronze and opal glass mosaic in Irish artist Niamh Barry’s expansive, 11-foot-long light sculpture, Walking. The artist’s first solo museum exhibition, “Light on Earth,” is on view at the National Museum of Ireland through December 31. Left: Courtesy of Tiffany & Co. Right: Simon Upton, courtesy of Maison Gerard

Colorful landscape with mountains on the left and a vibrant handbag with a similar pattern on the right.
Left: Photographed with infrared film that converts lush green vegetation into flamingo pinks and cherry reds, Richard Mosse’s Non-Alignment Pact transforms a setting of war and destruction into a surreal wonderland. More of Mosse’s work will be on display this fall in his upcoming solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Right: Tufts of vibrant greenery pop against graphic fuchsia mountains that envelop the seamless silk and swift-calfskin Hermès 2002 bag in Sieste au Paradis, a print inspired by a 1970s scarf designed by Aline Honoré. Left: Richard Mosse, Courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery. Right: Courtesy of Hermès

Gray pendant light with gold accents next to a black and white abstract pattern artwork resembling sand dunes.
Left: Known for its fusion of contemporary design and classic motifs, London-based Hector Finch Lighting seamlessly blends meticulous metalwork with sensuous swirls of mirrored-finish glass in its Tiber pendant. Right: Recognized as one of the finest darkroom printers, photographer Bruce Barnbaum transforms the natural world into an abstract fantasy. His rich black-and-white photograph Elegant Dune captures the hypnotic ripples of shifting sands in the American West. Left: Courtesy of Hector Finch Lighting. Right: Bruce Barnbaum

Portrait of a queen with crown and scepter beside an ornate gold and gemstone-encrusted watch.
Left: Adorned in her lavish jewels and golden coronation robe, Queen Elizabeth I sits regal in this oil-on-panel depiction from the 1600s, which was one of the first to represent her royal stature through her splendid orb and scepter. Right: For 100 years Milanese fine jewelry company Buccellati has produced exquisitely detailed metalwork, reflected in this Elio Fiorefiocco Arabesque timepiece, which features a dial embellished with radiant rubies—the watch boasts 138 in total—and an array of tsavorites and sapphires on the yellow-gold bracelet. Left: Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London. Right: Courtesy of Buccellati

A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2019 Spring Issue under the headline Life Imitates Art. Subscribe to the magazine.