Fine Art Collector | Spring 2019

ELSA SCHIAPARELLI AND SALVADOR DALI

Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, known for her courageous and highly original projects, had counted many artists as friends and worked with Salvador Dali, Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, Man Ray and Andy Warhol to name but a few. She teamed up with Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali on more than one occasion, but their most celebrated collaboration is the infamous lobster dress. The silk evening gown with its oversized crustacean print was worn by American socialite and the future duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson, for a Vogue photoshoot in 1937.

Above: The lobster decorating the silk dress had been a recurring motif in Dali’s art since 1934 (Credit: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gift of Mme Elsa Schiaparelli, 1969) Left: Embroidered dinner jacket designed in collaboration with Jean Cocteau. (Credit: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gift of Mme Elsa Schiaparelli, 1969)

ELLSWORTH KELLY

The design was reinterpreted by Kelly with Francisco Costa, creative director of Calvin Klein in 2013. Credit: Philadelphia Museum of Art. Private collection. Image courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery © Ellsworth Kelly Foundation

American painter, sculptor and printmaker Ellsworth Kelly was associated with hard-edge painting, Color Field painting and minimalism. In 1952, he created Red Yellow Blue White, a set of brightly dyed cotton panels. The leftover fabric was sewn into a dress by Kelly’s friend, which was a way he said, “ of getting color off the wall and having it walk around the room.” The design was reinterpreted by Kelly with Francisco Costa, creative director of Calvin Klein in 2013.

Cocktail dress of silk crêpe, 'The Mondrian Collection', dress designed by Yves Saint Laurent and textile made by Abraham and Bianchini Ferier, Paris, 1965.

YVES SAINT LAURENT AND THE MONDRIAN COLLECTION

During his long and distinguished career, Yves Saint Laurent brought art onto the catwalk many times. He designed collections inspired by the works of Matisse, Picasso and Andy Warhol. The Mondrian collection was an eccentric tribute to the Dutch painter capturing current trends, such as the usage of colour blocks, straight horizontal and vertical lines and geometric patterns. “ I tried to show that fashion is an art. For that, I followed the counsel of my master Christian Dior and the imperishable lesson of Mademoiselle Chanel. I created for my era and I tried to foresee what tomorrow would be.” - Yves Saint Laurent

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