Drawing on Style

Posted by Amy Kitchen on Sep 9, 2014 in Art History, Front Page Featured, London

…four decades of elegance

Brian Stonehouse Cow Girl

Coinciding with SS15 London Fasion Week, Gray M.C.A is opening a new selling exhibition featuring some of fashion’s leading illustrators. Titled: Drawing on Style: Four Decades of Elegance it covers from Post War 1940s through to the 1970s, with a diverse array of artists and styles.

The exhibition will include 40 original works by illustrators from Britain, Europe and America including René Gruau, Carl ‘Eric’ Erickson and Zandra Rhodes among many others. Prices will range from £300 – £10,000. As Connie Gray of Gray M.C.A explained:

“For too long fashion illustrators and their illustrations have been seen as a secondary art form, no matter how beautifully executed the image. More often than not, fashion illustrators were more widely known for their advertising work than they were for their work as highly skilled fashion illustrators. Though their style was familiar to the reader & their names published internationally alongside their illustrations, they have never been recognized as true artists. It was almost a secret world in which only those working in the industry knew & admired each other.”

René Bouché Cocktail Dress

American illustrator René Bouché is known for his advertising illustrations and was able to capture the style of his subjects without sacrificing their charm and wit. In 1938 he began to illustrate for French Vogue and he stayed there for the remainder of his life. He received many portrait commissions, among them was the famed Kennedy family who dubbed him Paintbrush. 

Christian Dior

I have no doubt that you’re familiar with the famed Parisian designer Christian Dior. Several of his sketches will be featured in Drawing on Style including the one above rendered on Lucien Lelong letterhead. Each sketch is inscribed with Dior’s notes, and are selling for £5,500 each.

May Routh Model Seated

May Routh was born to English parents in India, and now lives and teaches art in the Hollywood Hills. She worked throughout the 1960s for publications such as Vogue, Elle and Honey and by the 1970s her career focus shifted to costume design. She’s received two Emmy nominations for her work and the original fashion illustration above of Model Sevilla Hercolani from the 1960s, has a price tag of £800.

Dame Zandra Rhodes Wedding Dress

British designer Dame Zandra Rhodes is recognized as putting London at the forefront of the international fashion scene in the 1970s. She has a unique style, utilizing bold prints, feminine patterns and strong pops of colour. She continues to design for the rich and famous around the world including rock stars and royalty. In 2003 she was an integral part of setting up the Fashion & Textile Museum which is dedicated to showcasing the work of fashion and textile designers post-1950. The wedding dress design above carries a price tag of £750.