D R AW I N G ON STYLE 2021
Cover Images: Robert Melendez (1944 - ) Sporting Around I & II
D R AW I N G O N S T Y L E 2021 15 - 26 September 2021 Wing Gallery . 4 Cromwell Place . London SW7 2JE
18 October - 20 November 2021 5 Margaret’s Buildings . Bath BA1 2LP
gallery@graymca.com . www.graymca.com GRAY M.C.A | 1
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D R AW I N G O N S T Y L E 2021
It is with great pleasure that Gray M.C.A presents Drawing on Style 2021. The artists in this year’s exhibition all have one very clear thread – a remarkable artistic talent that transcends both period and style. With their own exceptional language, rooted in the finest traditions of fine art drawing, each has an unquestionable artistry in communicating the most desired trends in fashion. Whether documenting the ready-to-wear collections on the runways of New York, haute couture by the revered designers of Paris or a striking look for an advertising campaign, these fashion illustrators, no matter in which decade they worked, or work, are the epitome of elegance, beauty and creative brilliance. To highlight just a few from this year’s Drawing on Style exhibition; we see the delightful work of Carl Erickson, the original master of fashion illustration who initiated a new approach to documenting fashion in the early 1920s and who, by the 1930s and 40s, was the most sought-after illustrator of all. The undeniable Parisian flair of Pierre Mourgue, the divine ink strokes of René Gruau and the vibrance of the New York fashion scene seen through the eyes of the great Antonio. As the 20th century draws to a close, we see the magnificent work of Robert Melendez and Steven Stipelman, both phenomenally talented fashion artists working predominantly for WWD and W Magazine and the work of Gladys Perint Palmer who dominated the fashion pages from the 1980s to the 2000s with her startling renditions that held audiences around the world enraptured year after year. Following on from these illustrious names we see the expert and superbly talented work of British master David Downton, who not only is one of the very finest fashion artists working today but also a celebrated portrait painter. Downton’s artworks of fashion icon Carmen Dell’Orefice in particular, highlight an unparrelled sophistication when he combines these two disciplines with clarity, poise
and beauty. We also see the engaging works of contemporary Italian fashion and lifestyle artist Andrea Ferolla whose strength of line is as strong as his subjects are charming and the powerful line drawings of Ali Mahdavi who draws with such arresting assurance. And lastly, but by no means least, we welcome back the stunning works of Bil Donovan who creates evocative, atmospheric and sublime work through his mastery of watercolour and the brilliant Jason Brooks who is best known for his remarkable imagery creating spell binding campaigns for clients across the world. I am very grateful to the respected art critic and author William Packer for his superb essay. His seminal book Fashion Drawing in Vogue (Thames & Hudson 1983) inspired me from the beginning to celebrate this vital genre of fine art and I echo his appeal for “a fair commission”. I too hope Drawing on Style will further encourage fashion editors to continue to recognise the power, the subtlety and the beauty of fashion illustration. Each one of the artists featured in this year’s exhibition are distinguished for their unparalleled talent and it is a great privilege to exhibit their work under the banner of Drawing on Style. In many ways Drawing on Style is a tribute to a genre of fine art that captivates, intrigues and entertains now and always. Connie Gray Gray M.C.A
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D R AW I N G O N S T Y L E 2021
AN INTRODUCTION BY WILLIAM PACKER
Any exhibition of fine drawing is always welcome, whatever its particular focus and Drawing on Style 2021 is certainly that, celebrating as it does, work not just of considerable documentary interest but of remarkable aesthetic quality. But more than welcome, this the latest in Gray M.C.A’s admirable and increasingly successful series of shows devoted to such work, is of real importance.
For when, almost forty years ago, I wrote a few books on the great artistillustrators who had worked for Vogue earlier in the century - as was the practice common of all the major fashion magazines of the time - I did so with the clear feeling of looking back, not with nostalgia exactly but certainly with regret, to an age and with it a creative visual discipline, at once serious and delightful, that had gone for ever. For nostalgia suggests at least a wistful acceptance of the inevitable passage of time: my regret was for what I saw as the latter day wilful editorial neglect, not just of a useful practice naturally sympathetic to the material mainstay of any such magazine as Vogue, but of real and valuable talent. And in his preface to my more comprehensive study, Fashion Drawing in Vogue, David Hockney, an old friend, made the very point, along with several more, with characteristic force: “I love books of drawings anyway, and what I like here is that they are drawings of a kind that is no longer familiar… [and particularly interesting in being] drawing done not for its own sake, but to be useful… It was telling you all kinds of things - things about clothes, Paris, fashion, a whole way of life… The serious study of looking, which is what drawing is, affects far more than we might casually think it does… Even in a field as narrow and specialised as that of fashion, we can see the power drawing has to sharpen the eyes, and therefore the rest of our senses, to the world at large… Those artists were doing a specific job, the artist’s job, and that too has now changed… It seems not to occur to people that artists can have a job to do, a part to play… Photography is not the answer… the camera can only deal with what is in front of it at the time. Whether from
memory and experience or from the model, the artist works in his own time, simplifying and transforming what he sees and knows into something of his own… The best of these artists were artists first and fashion artists second…” Yes indeed: artists as illustrators, of fashion or whatever, can only work if given the opportunity first and then the encouragement to continue. A partnership has to be established, and mutual confidence achieved, which may take time. As David was quick to notice, all those artists had first been thoroughly taught to draw, and only then been taken on by the magazine, beginning, as he put it, “quietly and then flourishing over many years.” That book appeared in 1983, by which time fashion illustration, having become increasingly intermittent through the 1960s, had been absent from the pages of Vogue for a decade past. And in addressing the issue directly in my own Introduction, I laid no blame for this manifest decline on an all-conquering camera. Photographer and Illustrator, after all, had worked hitherto in effective, complementary and highly stylish partnership, and for such as Horst, Coffin, Parkinson, French, Donovan, and so many others, I had and have nothing but admiration. Even more to the point, the actual practice of fashion illustration had not fallen into decline until a surprisingly late date. Asked to do a particular job, the artists I celebrated had continued regularly to produce material far beyond mere documentation, their drawings no less considerable, no less fine art, for being so eminently practical, decorative, useful. No: the blame, I felt, if blame it was, lay elsewhere. “The use of good drawing as an obvious, effective and distinctive means of particular description … fell victim not to competition, not to any failure in the supply of artists, but to the failure of an editorial habit of mind. A regular practice would suggest an increasing knowledge of the material, besides a natural expertise; but with no artists in regular commission there can appear to be none to ask, and so the editorial prejudice feeds itself.”
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The irony is that Vogue itself had once openly acknowledged the particular gifts and qualities the artist could offer to the magazine, but that all too soon it would cast aside. It was quite happy in 1946 to say of Carl Erikson, ‘Eric’, its greatest star, that he “makes fashion move and live on the pages of Vogue - makes the women move in the clothes he draws”. And again, in 1949, “his genius is in seeing the essential and infusing it with life … the significant detail is stressed - the notched collar, the hem-deep panel, the gold-linked belt - those elements that give distinction… His drawings are even more true than photographs, for by selectivity and discrimination he lays bare the essential.” True indeed for Eric, and no less true for the rest, so long as the eye is trained quite as much as the hand. Rather more than a lifetime on from the heyday of Eric, Pierre Mourgue and Todd Draz, René Gruau, René Bouché and Bernard Blossac, and some forty years on from writing my book, it is hard to say the situation is much improved. The current employment of fashion illustration by the major magazines in the field registers within that narrow band on the dial between rare indulgence and non-existence. With such intermittency at best, the thought of sustained development over a career is, perhaps, but wishful thinking. And that other problem to which David Hockney so rightly pointed - of the disciplined training of hand and eye by direct observation of the model being no longer central to the art student’s education in our departments of Fine Art - is even more marked and serious now than it was then. Yet there are straws in the wind, and good reasons for hope, not least the energetic efforts being made by Connie and Ashley Gray with their gallery, Gray M.C.A, cultural archaeologists as it were¸ enthusiastically reinvestigating this neglected field, so rich and rewarding in its material, and with exhibitions such as Drawing on Style, rescuing Fashion Illustration from the oblivion into which it so nearly disappeared for ever.
And while, in covering more or less the past hundred years, the weight of the show rests inevitably on the work of those artists active through that golden age of fashion illustration, roughly the twenty-five years from the late 1920s to the early 50s, it is most encouraging to be reminded that a distinct generation - Antonio Lopez, Gladys Perint Palmer, Robert Melendez and others - born in the 1940s, rose to prominence in the 60s, to be followed in turn by artists, born in the 50s and 60s to emerge in the 80s - David Downton, Bil Donovan, Jason Brooks, Andrea Ferolla among them. All have worked on into the new century, and are wellrepresented here. So, all is far from lost. The artists are still there to be tempted into taking a working interest in the field of Fashion Illustration, if only given a bit of encouragement and a fair commission. Indeed, it could be said that illustration at large has never been better nor richer in variety, from children’s books, comic strips and cartoons, to science and literature, history and architecture, myth and legend. And if a younger generation is to be sought after and encouraged, though the Fine Art Department of an art school may no longer be the place to look, the fundamental technical disciplines are by no means so neglected in the departments of the Graphic and Applied Arts, of Fashion and Theatre Design and of Illustration itself. It is only for editors to take the hint.
William Packer Former Art Critic, The Financial Times June 2021
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Carl Erickson (1891 - 1958) Fur Facts for Bergdorf Goodman, 1935 Ink & wash on paper, signed, Condé Nast stamp verso, 49 x 38.5 cms American Vogue August 1935 p.53
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Carl Erickson (1891 - 1958) Abbott Kimball Interiors, 1944 Ink & wash on paper, signed & dated, 57 x 54.5 cms Abbott Kimball Co N.Y.C Advertisement 1944
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Carl Erickson (1891 - 1958) Jacques Fath, 1947 Ink & wash on paper, signed, dated & inscribed verso, 59.5 x 32.5 cms French Vogue October 1947
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Carl Erickson (1891 - 1958) Evening Gown & Stole, 1946 Watercolour on paper, signed, Condé Nast stamp verso, 68 x 53 cms American Vogue December 1946 p.78
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Christian Bérard (1902 - 1949) Parasol Sketch, 1930s Ink on paper, signed, 35 x 24 cms
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Marcel Vertès (1895 - 1961) Jeune, Ink & colour wash on paper, signed, 52 x 32 cms
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Bernard Boutet de Monvel (1881 - 1949) Élégantes, Graphite on paper, estate stamp, 30 x 24 cms Harper’s Bazaar
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René Bouché (1905 - 1963) New Look Fitted Suits, 1948 Ink, watercolour & gouache on paper, signed, 63.5 x 48.5 cms American Vogue 1948
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René Bouché (1905 - 1963) East India Pink, 1954 Ink & watercolour on paper, Condé Nast stamp verso, 59.5 x 45 cms American Vogue December 1954 p.150
10 René Bouché (1905 - 1963) Elizabeth Arden, 1949 Watercolour on board, signed, 53 x 37 cms Elizabeth Arden Advertising 1949
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11 René Bouché (1905 - 1963) Couple in Conversation, 1950s Pastel & wash on paper laid on board, signed, 48 x 63 cms
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12 Pierre Mourgue (1890 - 1969) Marcel Rochas & Balenciaga, 1944 Watercolour & ink on paper, signed, dated & inscribed, 26 x 31 cms
13 Pierre Mourgue (1890 - 1969) Création Alix, 1957 Watercolour & gouache on paper, signed, dated & inscribed, 30 x 20 cms Modes & Travaux Front Cover 1957
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14 Pierre Mourgue (1890 - 1969) Jacques Griffe Couture, 1955 Watercolour on paper, signed & dated, 33 x 24 cms L’Officiel 1955
15 Pierre Mourgue (1890 - 1969) Sports Coat, 1955 Ink & watercolour on paper, signed & dated, 33 x 24 cms Actualité Couture 1955
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16 Pierre Mourgue (1890 - 1969) Jacques Griffe, 1958 Ink & watercolour on paper, signed & dated, inscribed verso, 38.5 x 29.5 cms L’Officiel 1958 p.269
17 Bernard Blossac (1917 - 2002) Check Coat, Ink & wash on paper, signed, inscribed Ad Couture p.37, 65 x 50 cms
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18 Gerd Grimm (1911 - 1998) Peek & Cloppenburg Winter Coat, 1958 Pastel & wash on paper laid on board, signed, 46.5 x 20 cms Peek & Cloppenburg Advertising, Germany 1958
19 René Gruau (1909 - 2004) Model in Profile, Graphite on paper, signed, 55 x 42 cms
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20 René Gruau (1909 - 2004) Summer Hat, Marker pen on paper, signed, René Gruau estate stamp verso, 44 x 40 cms The René Gruau Estate
21 René Gruau (1909 - 2004) Line Drawing, Marker pen on paper, signed, René Gruau estate stamp verso, 61 x 44 cms The René Gruau Estate
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22 René Gruau (1909 - 2004) Trench Coat, Ink & wash on paper, signed, 39.5 x 39 cms
23 Tom Keogh (1922 - 1980) Springtime Fashion, 1960s Ink on paper, signed, 40 x 25 cms Au Printemps Paris
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24 Antonio Lopez (1943 - 1987) Party Pant Suit, 1966 Ink & colour overlay collage on paper, signed & dated, 63 x 34 cms Modelled by Susan Baraz The Estate of Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramos Fashions of the Times, The New York Times Magazine 1966 p.150
25 Antonio Lopez (1943 - 1987) Jewellery Study, 1963 Ink pen on paper, signed, 35.5 x 25.5 cms The Estate of Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramos
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26 Antonio Lopez (1943 - 1987) You Can Never be Too Rich or Too Thin, The Duchess of Windsor, 1973 Wax crayon & white gouache on paper, signed, 60 x 46 cms The Estate of Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramos Esquire Magazine August 1973 p.93
27 Antonio Lopez (1943 - 1987) Saks Fifth Avenue, 1976 Graphite pencil & oil pastel on paper, signed, 52 x 38 cms Modelled by Eija Vehka Aho The Estate of Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramos Saks Fifth Avenue
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28 Antonio Lopez (1943 - 1987) Outward Bound, 1965 Pen & mixed media on paper, signed, 61 x 31cms The Estate of Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramos Fashions of the Times, The New York Times Magazine 1965 p.90
29 Antonio Lopez (1943 - 1987) Worldly Knit, 1965 Ink, collage & mixed media on paper, signed, 61 x 23 cms The Estate of Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramos Fashions of the Times, The New York Times Magazine 1965 p.106
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30 Antonio Lopez (1943 - 1987) Geoffrey Beene, 1986 Pencil & watercolour on paper, signed, 47 x 38 cms Modelled by Jane Thorvaldson The Estate of Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramos CFDA Awards New York 1986 ‘Antonio 60,70,80 Three Decades of Fashion Illustration’ p.207 (Thames & Hudson 1995)
31 Antonio Lopez (1943 - 1987) CFDA Awards, 1986 Pencil & watercolour on paper, signed & dated, 47 x 38 cms Modelled by Karen Swindell and Jane Thorvaldson The Estate of Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramos CFDA Awards New York 1986 ‘Antonio 60,70,80 Three Decades of Fashion Illustration’ p.207 (Thames & Hudson 1995)
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32 Antonio Lopez (1943 - 1987) The Long and Short of ... , 1967 Pencil, pen & mixed media on paper, signed, 68 x 54 cms The Estate of Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramos Fashions of the Times, The New York Times Magazine May 1967 p.88
33 Antonio Lopez (1943 - 1987) The Long and Short of ... II, 1967 Pencil, pen & mixed media on paper, 68 x 38 cms The Estate of Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramos Fashions of the Times, The New York Times Magazine May 1967 p.89
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34 Henry Koehler (1927 - 2018) Annette Read, 1962 Ink & coloured wash on paper, signed, 44.5 x 42 cms The Henry Koehler Estate Town & Country Magazine 1962
35 Henry Koehler (1927 - 2018) Mémoire Chérie, 1957 Watercolour & wash on paper, signed, 59 x 46 cms The Henry Koehler Estate Mémoire Chérie Perfume Elizabeth Arden Advertisement 1957
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36 Fred Greenhill (1925 - 2007) Fantasia for Lord & Taylor, 1982 Ink & wash on paper, signed & inscribed, 44 x 29 cms Fashions of the Times, The New York Times Magazine 1982
37 Tod Draz (1917 - 2002) Balenciaga, 1960s India ink on paper, 60 x 36.5 cms The Sunday Times
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38 Ruth Freeman (1911 - 2001) Grey Suit, 1960s Ink & wash on paper, 50 x 39 cms Ruth Freeman Archive
39 Ruth Freeman (1911 - 2001) Yellow Suit, 1960s Ink & wash on paper, 50 x 39 cms Ruth Freeman Archive
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40 Rosemary Torre (1933 - ) Hats, 1961 Black ink & gouache on board, signed Stuglia, 36 x 32 cms Rosemary Torre Archive (Née Stuglia) Franklin Simon Department Store
41 Rosemary Torre (1933 - ) Model Seated, 1955 Brush line & watercolour on board, signed Struglia, 43 x 33 cms Rosemary Torre Archive (Née Stuglia)
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42 Kenneth Paul Block (1924 - 2009) Gianfranco Ferré, 1980s Wax crayon & marker pen on paper, 60 x 46 cms The Kenneth Paul Block Foundation WWD
43 Kenneth Paul Block (1924 - 2009) Fendi Fur, 1980s Marker pen & wash on paper, 65 x 48 cms The Kenneth Paul Block Foundation WWD
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44 Kenneth Paul Block (1924 - 2009) Yves Saint Laurent, 1980s Marker pen on paper, 65 x 48 cms The Kenneth Paul Block Foundation WWD
45 Kenneth Paul Block (1924 - 2009) Runway, 1980s Marker pen on paper, 65 x 48 cms The Kenneth Paul Block Foundation WWD
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46 Kenneth Paul Block (1924 - 2009) Manolo Blahnik Boot for Perry Ellis, 1981 Wax crayon & marker pen on paper, signed, 14 x 10.5 cms The Kenneth Paul Block Foundation W Magazine
47 Steven Stipelman (1944 - ) Bill Blass, 1988 Gouache & marker pen on paper, signed, 59 x 39 cms Steven Stipelman Archive W Magazine June 1988
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48 Steven Stipelman (1944 - ) Illustrating Fashion, 1996 Gouache & colour pencil on coloured paper, signed & dated, 60 x 46 cms Steven Stipelman Archive Front Cover Artwork ‘Illustrating Fashion, Concept to Creation’ (1st Edition) (Fairchild Books 1996)
49 Steven Stipelman (1944 - ) Intensity, 1996 Gouache & colour pencil on coloured paper, signed & dated, 60 x 43.5 cms Steven Stipelman Archive
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50 Steven Stipelman (1944 - ) Perry Ellis, 1977 Gouache & colour pencil on coloured paper, signed, 59 x 26 cms Steven Stipelman Archive WWD December 1977
51 Steven Stipelman (1944 - ) Winter Fur, 1970s Gouache & colour pencil on tonal paper, signed, 59 x 42 cms Steven Stipelman Archive WWD
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52 Robert Passantino (1945 - ) Nude, 1990 Rapidograph line drawing & collage on layout paper, signed & dated, 39 x 27 cms Robert Passantino Archive WWD Beauty Section
53 Robert Passantino (1945 - ) Accessories, 1980s Rapidograph line drawing & zipatone on paper, signed, 42 x 30 cms Robert Passantino Archive WWD
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54 Robert Melendez (1944 - ) Sporting Around I, 1969 Charcoal & pantone colour overlay on paper, signed, 33 x 25 cms Robert Melendez Archive WWD
55 Robert Melendez (1944 - ) Sporting Around II, 1969 Charcoal & pantone colour overlay on paper, 33 x 25 cms Robert Melendez Archive WWD
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56 Robert Melendez (1944 - ) Seeing Dots, 1971 Rapidograph line drawing & marker pen on layout paper, signed, 43 x 19 cms Robert Melendez Archive WWD
57 Robert Melendez (1944 - ) Seeing Stars, 1985 Rapidograph line drawing & graphite on layout paper, signed & dated, 44 x 28 cms Robert Melendez Archive Interview Magazine 1985 Abel Villarreal Fashion
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58 Robert Melendez (1944 - ) Linen, 1969 Charcoal & wash on paper, signed, 60.5 x 42.5 cms Robert Melendez Archive Moygashel Irish Linen
59 Glenn Tunstull (1950 - ) Ann Taylor Accessories, 1975 Charcoal on vellum paper, 45.5 x 29 cms Glenn Tunstull Archive WWD
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60 Glenn Tunstull (1950 - ) YSL Prêt à Porter, 1984 Pencil on paper, signed, 29 x 24.5 cms Glenn Tunstull Archive Bloomingdale’s Advertisement The New York Times
61 Glenn Tunstull (1950 - ) Beaded Top, 1984 Pencil on paper, signed, 28.5 x 28 cms Glenn Tunstull Archive Bloomingdale’s Advertisement The New York Times
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62 Gladys Perint Palmer (1947 - ) Versace, 1998 Ink, watercolour & metallic pastel on paper, signed, 60.5 x 48 cms Gladys Perint Palmer Studio The Sunday Times Style Magazine August 1998 p.15
63 Gladys Perint Palmer (1947 - ) Rifat Ozbek, 1993 Ink, wash & metallic paint on paper, signed, 58.5 x 44.5 cms Gladys Perint Palmer Studio Fashions of the Times, The New York Times Magazine 1993 p.76 - 77
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64 Gladys Perint Palmer (1947 - ) Karl Lagerfeld Nails It, 1992 Ink & pastel on paper, signed, 58.5 x 44.5 cms Gladys Perint Palmer Studio Grazia Italy October 1992 p.225
65 Gladys Perint Palmer (1947 - ) Max Mara Fur, 2000 Ink & pastel on paper, signed, 57.5 x 37.5 cms Gladys Perint Palmer Studio Vogue October 2000 p.60
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66 Gladys Perint Palmer (1947 - ) Ottoman Christian Lacroix, 1990 Ink, wash & metallic paint on gloss paper, signed, 40.5 x 30 cms Gladys Perint Palmer Studio San Francisco Examiner March 1990 p.E3
67 Gladys Perint Palmer (1947 - ) Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, 2000 Ink, watercolour & pastel on paper, signed, 54 x 40 cms Gladys Perint Palmer Studio German Vogue 2000
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68 Gladys Perint Palmer (1947 - ) Jean-Paul Gaultier, 2005 Ink & oil pastel on paper, signed, 48 x 61 cms Gladys Perint Palmer Studio L’Officiel Russia December 2005 p.254 - 255
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69 David Downton (1959 - ) Carmen, 2000 Oil pastel on coloured paper with ink & gouache acetate overlay, signed, 32 x 54 cms David Downton Studio The Telegraph 2003 ‘Drawing Carmen’ p.27 (David Downton Ink 2021)
70 David Downton (1959 - ) Carmen Triple, 2009 Ink on acetate, signed, 50 x 41.5 cms David Downton Studio Special Commission for London College of Fashion 2009 ‘Drawing Carmen’ p.63 (David Downton Ink 2021)
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71 David Downton (1959 - ) Carmen New York, 2020 Charcoal & pastel on coloured paper, signed, dated & inscribed, 55 x 40.5 cms David Downton Studio ‘Drawing Carmen’ p.29 (David Downton Ink 2021)
72 David Downton (1959 - ) Carmen Dior, 2000 Oil pastel on coloured paper with ink & gouache acetate overlay, signed, 41 x 30.5 cms David Downton Studio The Independent Magazine July 2000 ‘Drawing Carmen’ p.33 (David Downton Ink 2021)
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73 David Downton (1959 - ) Christian Dior 1997 Haute Couture, 2021 Charcoal, pastel & gouache on paper, signed & dated, 58 x 41 cms David Downton Studio
74 David Downton (1959 - ) Christian Dior, 2021 Charcoal on paper, signed & dated, 55 x 39.5 cms David Downton Studio
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75 Andrea Ferolla (1961 - ) Jeanne Hébuterne, 2019 Gouache & felt marker on paper, signed & dated, 29.5 x 21 cms Andrea Ferolla Studio
76 Andrea Ferolla (1961 - ) The Nest Hat, 2019 Pencil, felt marker, brush pen & white pigment ink on paper, signed, 29.5 x 21 cms Andrea Ferolla Studio
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77 Andrea Ferolla (1961 - ) The Necklace, 2018 Gouache, brush pen & felt marker on paper, signed, 29.5 x 21 cms Andrea Ferolla Studio
78 Andrea Ferolla (1961 - ) Hotel Nord Pinus, 2018 Brush pen and felt marker on paper, signed & inscribed, 29.5 x 21 cms Andrea Ferolla Studio
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79 Andrea Ferolla (1961 - ) Chéri, 2020 Pencil & gouache on paper, signed, 29.5 x 21 cms Andrea Ferolla Studio
80 Andrea Ferolla (1961 - ) Un Certain Regard, 2019 Gouache & felt marker on paper, signed, 29.5 x 21 cms Andrea Ferolla Studio
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81 Ali Mahdavi (1974 - ) Jean-Paul Gaultier Haute Couture I, 2021 Black marker pen on paper, signed, 42 x 30 cms Modelled by Violeta Sanchez Ali Mahdavi Studio Special Project Jean-Paul Gaultier Atelier
82 Ali Mahdavi (1974 - ) Jean-Paul Gaultier Haute Couture II, 2021 Black marker pen on paper, signed, 58 x 42 cms Modelled by Violeta Sanchez Ali Mahdavi Studio Special Project Jean-Paul Gaultier Atelier
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83 Ali Mahdavi (1974 - ) Jean-Paul Gaultier Haute Couture III, 2021 Black marker pen on paper, signed, 58 x 42 cms Modelled by Tanel Bedrossiantz Ali Mahdavi Studio Special Project Jean-Paul Gaultier Atelier
84 Ali Mahdavi (1974 - ) Jean-Paul Gaultier Haute Couture IV, 2021 Black marker pen on paper, signed, 42 x 30 cms Modelled by Tanel Bedrossiantz Ali Mahdavi Studio Special Project Jean-Paul Gaultier Atelier
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85 Jason Brooks (1969 - ) Sunglasses & Scarf, 2021 A/P Mixed media & digital on paper, signed, 59 x 84 cms Jason Brooks Studio
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86 Jason Brooks (1969 - ) ACE, 2021 A/P Mixed media & digital on paper, signed & dated, 84 x 59 cms Jason Brooks Studio
87 Jason Brooks (1969 - ) Dancer, 2021 A/P Mixed media & digital on paper, signed, 43.5 x 60 cms Jason Brooks Studio
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88 Bil Donovan (1953 - ) Valentino Paris Spring Couture, 2020 Watercolour ink on paper, signed, 36 x 28 cms Bil Donovan Studio As If Magazine 2020
89 Bil Donovan (1953 - ) Ronald van der Kemp Paris Spring Couture, 2020 Watercolour ink on paper, signed, 45 x 38 cms Bil Donovan Studio As If Magazine 2020
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90 Bil Donovan (1953 - ) Iris van Herpen Paris Spring Couture I, 2019 Watercolour ink on paper, signed, 45 x 37 cms Bil Donovan Studio Luxure Magazine 2019
91 Bil Donovan (1953 - ) Iris van Herpen Paris Spring Couture II, 2019 Watercolour ink on paper, signed, 38 x 28 cms Bil Donovan Studio Luxure Magazine 2019
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92 Bil Donovan (1953 - ) Stéphane Rolland Paris Spring Couture, 2019 Watercolour ink on paper, signed, 38 x 32 cms Bil Donovan Studio Luxure Magazine 2019
93 Bil Donovan (1953 - ) On Aura Tout Vu Paris Spring Couture, 2019 Watercolour ink on paper, signed, 38 x 28 cms Bil Donovan Studio Luxure Magazine 2019
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Christian Bérard (1902 - 1949) French Known affectionately as Bébé, Christian Bérard was a flamboyant figure in the creative bohemia of Paris in the 1930s and 40s. As a painter, he studied at the prestigious Lycée Janson de Sailly, Paris and with Édouard Vuillard at the Académie Ranson. The influence of Vuillard and the advent of surrealism is clearly evident in Bérard’s work. He was an adventurous colourist with a free style that highlighted elegance, without severe delineation, bringing an ethereal quality to his work whether in fashion illustration, portraiture, interior design or set and costume design. As a fashion illustrator, Bérard drew most frequently for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, Schiaparelli, Chanel, Patou and Dior. His relationship with Christian Dior being perhaps the most important. Accompanying Dior from the onset of his arrival in Paris, Bérard was one of a group of well-known poets, artists and composers who influenced Dior’s move into the world of fashion. And when Dior launched the House of Dior in 1947, it was Bérard who advised on the interior design of 30 Avenue Montaigne and who illustrated what was to become one of the most well-known depictions of the famous Bar Suit from Dior’s first collection. Bérard was also instrumental in bringing French haute couture back into the public eye when he designed the sets and catalogues in 1945 for the Théâtre de la Mode. In film and theatre, Bérard collaborated with Jean Cocteau and Serge Lifar creating the set design and costumes for the haunting film La Belle et la Bête (1946). Bérard died at just 47 whilst on stage in Paris. His work is held in the permanent collections of MoMA, New York and The Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Kenneth Paul Block (1924 - 2009) American Kenneth Paul Block’s incisive yet graceful line influenced over half a century of style. He became the most sought after and influential figure in the communication of American fashion during the latter half of the twentieth century. Born in Larchmont, New York, Block trained at Parson’s School of Design before joining McCall’s Patterns. Here he found the atmosphere restrictive to his natural flair but one that allowed him to perfect the craft of ‘building’ an outfit. Block swiftly went on to join the legendary trade paper and fashion bible Woman’s Wear Daily for whom he became chief features artist and later for W Magazine (Fairchild Publications). Block’s influence was legendary and a key component in the success of many emerging American designers including Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera and Calvin Klein. Diana Vreeland, in her role as curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, New York, invited Block to illustrate the exhibition literature for a number of exhibitions including the highly acclaimed ‘The World of Balenciaga’ (1973). The poise and elegance of Block’s work, together with the attitude and gesture underlines his unique position as a twentieth century master of fashion illustration. Exhibitions include The Museum of Fine Art, Boston (2015) and The Society of Illustrators, New York (2020). Work is held in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Art, Boston; The Frances Neady Collection of Original Fashion
Illustration, New York; The Victoria & Albert Museum and The Courtauld Institute of Art, London. In 2016, The Kenneth Paul Block Foundation was established, dedicated to the preservation, further appreciation, recognition and legacy of Block through international museum projects, lectures and education programmes.
Bernard Blossac (1917 - 2002) French Blossac was a master draftsman whose beautiful drawing became a mainstay of twentieth century fashion illustration. He was discovered by the Parisian couturier Robert Piguet in the early 1940s. Prior to this Blossac had studied under the revered French graphic artist Paul Colin, best known for his work as a leading theatrical set and costume designer and illustrative artist. One of Colin’s most recognised works being the publicity artwork for the celebrated musical review that launched the career of Josephine Baker. Blossac’s work epitomised a Parisian elegance. His fluid style fitted beautifully within the pages of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Femina, L’Officiel de la Couture et de la Mode de Paris and Actualité Couture where he could be seen illustrating for the grand couturiers Jacques Fath, Christian Dior, Jean Dèsses, Balenciaga, Worth and Givenchy. In 1996 the Christian Dior Museum, Granville held an important retrospective of Blossac’s work entitled ‘Images de Mode 1940 - 1960 Hommage à Bernard Blossac’. Work is held in the permanent collections of Palais Galliera Musée de la Mode, Paris and The Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Bernard Boutet de Monvel (1881 - 1949) French Boutet de Monvel was a remarkable painter, engraver, sculptor and fashion illustrator. Fascinated by geometry, simplicity and stylisation, Boutet de Monvel’s illustrative work portrayed solid construction with a geometric line that was closely associated with the Art Deco movement. Pre-World War I Boutet de Monvel’s illustrations featured in Femina, Le Jardin des Modes and Gazette du Bon Ton and between the wars Vogue and Town & Country regularly featured his work, although from 1926 - 1933 Harper’s Bazaar signed him exclusively. Away from illustration, Boutet de Monvel had enjoyed significant attention in the early 1900s as a prominent artist and by the 1930s and 40s his portraits were á la mode. As the art historian Stéphane-Jacques Addade wrote, ‘He was, in America, the most important painter of the day, the painter of millionaires, like Andy Warhol would be in the ‘70s.’ Exhibitions included Baltimore Museum of Art (1926) and Museé des Beaux Arts, Paris (1951). Boutet de Monvel died tragically young at just 49 whilst flying over the Azores. Boutet de Monvel’s sketches were collected by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé and now make up part of the permanent collection held in the Musée YSL, Marrakech. Sotheby’s, Paris held a celebrated two day sale of his estate in 2016 which raised almost ten million Euros.
René Robert Bouché (1905 - 1963) American Bouché was a celebrated portraitist and a grand master of twentieth century fashion illustration. Born in Prague, Bouché moved to Berlin, Paris and finally New York at the onset of America joining World War II in 1941. Despite a lack of formal training, Bouché had an incomparable ability to capture everything he drew with charm, wit, style and elegance. Alongside his long association with both Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, Bouché was appointed chief advertising campaign illustrator for Saks Fifth Avenue and Elizabeth Arden and produced a series of advertising campaigns for well known clients such as Schweppes, Jaguar and Buick. In theatre, Bouché is best known for the set and costume designs for the Theatre Guild’s Child of Fortune (1954) and the American Ballet Theatre’s Offenbach in the Underworld (1956). As a master of social portraiture with a quick, intuitive yet penetrating style, Bouché was regularly invited to paint the portraits of the leading lights from the worlds of art, fashion, literature and politics including private commissions of Jacqueline Kennedy, Judy Garland and W H Auden. For Time Magazine he painted John F Kennedy, Teddy Kennedy, Sophia Loren and Jean Kerr and the CBS radio and television personalities Jack Benny, Edward R Murrow and Ed Sullivan. The Ed Murrow drawing can be seen today etched into a brass plaque in the entrance foyer of the CBS building in New York. From the early 1950s, Condé Nast commissioned Bouché to travel extensively to capture the social and fashion trends in Europe each season. For a time, Bouché became absorbed in abstract expressionism joining Motherwell, de Kooning and Pollock as a member of The Eight Street Avant-Garde Painters Club and was commissioned by the celebrated Tibor de Nargy Gallery, New York for an abstract work for the cover of An Elegy by poet Chester Kallman. However, Bouché returned to portraiture saying he “missed the human form”. His last major commission was in 1962 for a mural in the New York Hilton restaurant. Bouché’s work is held in public collections worldwide including The Whitney Museum and MoMA, New York. Exhibitions include MoMA (1974) and The Legion of Honour Museum, San Francisco (2012).
Jason Brooks (1969 - ) British Jason Brooks is an award-winning fashion and lifestyle illustrator who leads the way as a master of bold and impactful contemporary imagery. Since graduating from St Martin’s College and The Royal College of Art, London in the 1980s, he has gained an international reputation for his outstanding visuals and is credited as being one of the first to bring computer technology into the field of fashion and illustrative art. Whether working in pen and ink or via a digital platform, his work is rooted in classic fine art drawing that captures the imagination and communicates a look with assurance and grace. The glamorous and aspirational world that Brooks presents in his work continues to attract high profile collaborations with a wide range of luxury and lifestyle brands, most recently for Super Yacht Monaco.
Other collaborations have included Lancôme, Revlon, Mercedes Benz, Chanel, Tiffany & Co., Virgin Atlantic, Veuve Clicquot and Ritz Hotels. Travel, alongside fashion is a recurrent theme in his work. He is the author of a series of illustrated travel sketchbooks focusing on Paris, London and New York. New York Sketchbook and London Sketchbook were both finalists in The Victoria & Alberts Museum’s Book Illustration Awards, London Sketchbook winning the prestigious award in 2016. The museum holds an impressive collection of Brooks’ works in its permanent prints and drawings archive. His work has been selected to feature in a number of books including 100 Years of Fashion Illustration (Laurence King), Fashion Illustration Now (Thames & Hudson), Stylishly Drawn (Harry Abrams Inc.) and on the front cover of New Icons of Fashion Illustration (Laurence King).
Bil Donovan (1953 - ) American Bil Donovan is America’s leading contemporary fashion illustrator with an international following. For the past twelve years Donovan has held the esteemed title of Artist-in-Residence for Christian Dior, a position that underlines his standing as a master of fashion illustration with a flowing style that perfectly reflects the elegance and history of the House of Dior. Donovan utilises an innate sense of selectivity to communicate the essence of glamour, luxury and style in all his work. His creative language is entirely unique whilst at the same time being rooted in the finest traditions of fine art painting. His economy of line, predominantly in watercolour, flows across the page creating natural movement and strength whilst perfectly capturing the beauty of the fashion he is illustrating. Donovan’s instantly recognisable illustrative style has led to an enviable list of clients that include The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vogue, Luxure Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Bergdorf Goodman, St. Regis Hotels, L’Occitane, Halston and Saks Fifth Avenue. Of particular note is a large-scale painting in the signature Christian Dior suite at the St. Regis Hotel, New York. Donovan serves on the Executive Board of The Society of Illustrators, New York, chairs the Advisory Board for The Frances Neady Collection of Original Fashion Illustration, New York and is an esteemed Professor of Illustration at both F.I.T and The School of Visual Arts, New York. In 2020 Donovan curated the acclaimed exhibition ‘Fashion Illustration: The Visionaries’ at The Society of Illustrators, celebrating one hundred years of fashion illustration. Donovan’s work is held in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Collection, New York, The Frances Neady Collection of Original Fashion Illustration, New York and The Society of Illustrators, New York. Exhibitions include The Leslie Lohman Museum, New York (2013) and The Brooklyn Museum, New York (2020).
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David Downton (1959 - ) British
Todd Draz (1917 - 2002) American
Downton carries the golden age of fashion illustration into the twenty first century with an unparalleled sophistication. With a sweeping style and perfect economy of line, he is the natural successor to the original twentieth century masters of fashion illustration Carl Erickson, René Bouët Willaumez and René Bouché with a hint of the more graphic line of René Gruau. As a contemporary master, Downton’s influence and unique eye is key to the continual appreciation of fashion illustration whilst his work is internationally recognised as the essence of beauty and style. Since the 1990s, Downton has been invited to draw the Paris haute couture collections and his work has featured regularly in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, Luxure Magazine and V Magazine whilst also working with an extensive list of clients that includes Dior, Chanel, Tiffany & Co., Harrods and Estée Lauder. Alongside his work as a fashion illustrator, Downton is a celebrated portrait painter with an elegant refined style that echoes the talents of Philip de László. By expertly blurring the lines between fashion and portraiture, Downton has consequently been invited to paint some of the most famous and beautiful icons of our age including Cate Blanchett, Dita Von Teese, Carmen Dell’Orefice, Catherine Deneuve, Joan Collins, Iman, Linda Evangelista, Rachel Weisz and Paloma Picasso. In 2011 Downton was appointed the first Artist-in-Residence for Claridge’s Hotel, London. A role in which he sketches the hotel’s most illustrious guests from the world of fashion and style. These portraits now make up part of the hotel’s permanent art collection. Amongst Downton’s other projects is the highly acclaimed exhibition artwork commissioned by The Victoria & Albert Museum, London to celebrate the seminal exhibition ‘Golden Age of Couture’ (2007). He also acts as Editor at Large writing and illustrating for Airmail magazine edited by former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter and has written two bestselling books - Masters of Fashion Illustration and Portraits of the World’s Most Stylish Women (Laurence King 2010 and 2015). His most recent book Drawing Carmen was published in 2021 (David Downton Ink) celebrating the fashion icon Carmen Dell’Orefice in her ninetieth year. Downton’s work is held in the permanent collections of The Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Palais Galliera Musée de la Mode, Paris and The Frances Neady Collection of Original Fashion Illustration, New York. Museum exhibitions have included The Victoria & Albert Museum, London and Museo ABC, Madrid.
Tod Draz’s illustrations featured in the editorial pages of American, British and French Vogue, as well as for advertising campaigns for such clients as Au Printemps, Paris, Arnold Constable and Saks Fifth Avenue, New York for over thirty years. His work could also regularly be seen in The New York Times. Draz began his fashion career in the 1950s, initially working in New York before moving to Paris. This was considered the golden age of fashion illustration, when revered illustrators such as Carl Erickson, René Gruau, and René Bouché were the standard bearers of the profession. A talented draftsman, Draz built upon the work of these masters whilst bringing a fresh sensibility to the craft. His line quality was distinct, emotional and crisp. A more definitive graphic line developed in the 1960s just prior to his return to America. Draz retired from fashion illustration in the late 1970s, preferring to live at a gentler pace away from the fast-moving world that high fashion had become.
Carl Erickson (1891 - 1958) American ‘Eric’ as he was known throughout his career, is recognised as the most influential original fashion illustrator of the early to mid-twentieth century. He was the master from whom future illustrators would draw inspiration by revolutionising the way fashion was portrayed away from the stylised approach of the earlier illustrators of the early twentieth century. Most specifically by placing his models within a context, Erickson deployed an acute observation with an elegant line, loose brushwork and colour washes that achieved a distinct, seemingly spontaneous feel. Born in Illinois, Erickson attended The Chicago Academy of Fine Arts before joining Marshall Field’s and the renowned advertising agency Lord & Thomas. In 1916 he received his first commission from American Vogue. Erickson’s career went on to span fifty years working with Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and other leading publications in France, Britain and the US. He himself was the personification of the elegant world in which he lived and worked, often to be seen dressed in a bowler hat and a perfectly cut suit. The Brooklyn Museum, New York held a major retrospective of his work in 1959 and a selection of his original drawings for Vogue were included in the highly acclaimed ‘Vogue 100: A Century of Style’ exhibition in 2016 at The National Portrait Gallery, London. Works are held in museum and private collections worldwide including The Frances Neady Collection of Original Fashion Illustration, New York and The Society of Illustrators permanent collection, New York.
Andrea Ferolla (1961 - ) Italian
Fred Greenhill (1925 - 2007) American
Ferolla’s distinctive, sensitive and acutely observed subjects are timeless works of art that portray a sophisticated world of elegance, grace and beauty. Working from his atelier alongside his wife and partner Daria Reina in Rome, the couple have created a unique brand that includes the highly acclaimed luxury lifestyle store Chez Dede. Ferolla’s illustrations are published regularly in international fashion and travel magazines including Condé Nast Traveller, AD Magazine, The Financial Times How to Spend It, The New York Times Style Magazine, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Pan & the Dream Style & Art Magazine. He is also a continuous contributor for Yolo Journal and has a regular feature in the Italian magazine Mia Le Journal. Ferolla has worked with many of the finest luxury brands worldwide including Giuliva Heritage Collection, Kate Spade, Rosewood Miramar, California, Edition Hotel, Miami, Le Yaca, St Tropez, Hotel de’ Ricci, Rome and Pierluigi Ristorante, Rome creating large scale artworks, personalised brand calligraphies and iconic drawings. In 2019 Ferolla was appointed Artist-in-Residence for the luxury Hotel Eden, Rome where he captures the glamorous lifestyle of the historic hotel and its guests. Ferolla is an estemmed professor at the European Institute of Design in Rome, where he teaches graphic design. In 2018, Italian Chic (Assouline) was published depicting a journey of discovery through the photographs of Daria Reina and the illustrative work of Ferolla that epitomises the couple’s travels through Italy and their alluring Italian lifestyle.
Fred Greenhill’s effortless illustrations displayed a confidence and knowledge of draftsmanship that captivated audiences for over forty years. From Elizabeth Arden, Estée Lauder and Revlon to Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor (for whom he created the long stem rose brand insignia in the 1970s), Greenhill drew with charm and grace. His illustrations portrayed sophisticated and exceptionally elegant women that were as relatable as they were aspirational. Greenhill is a classic example of an illustrator who has largely been forgotten owing to photography taking centre stage in documenting fashion but this by no means diminishes his great talent as a key fashion illustrator working in the heady days of the 1970s and 80s New York fashion scene.
Ruth Freeman (1911 - 2001) British Ruth Freeman’s cosmopolitan upbringing took her from her birth country of Canada to Berlin, Paris, Brussels, the Czech Republic and London where she attended the Slade School of Fine Art. During World War II Freeman worked for the War Office mapping department where she learnt the dexterity of fine line drawing. Following the war, Freeman became one of just a few female fashion illustrators working for Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, The Evening Standard, The Observer and Harrods. She attended the haute couture fashion collections in Paris and was present at the opening of Christian Dior’s inaugural New Look collection in 1947. For over 30 years Freeman gracefully illustrated fashion from the elegant grand couture of Norman Hartnell and Balenciaga to the revolutionary designs of BIBA and Courrèges.
Gerd Grimm (1911 - 1998) German ‘One of a very few German fashion illustrators who moved with assurance in international circles’ was the description of the fashion and graphic artist Gerd Grimm in an article for Graphik magazine in 1951. Having spent the years under Nazi occupation in constant fear of capture owing to his partly Jewish heritage, Grimm preferred to take commissions over the telephone and remained largely under the radar for his entire career, although his output was prolific. Grimm is best recognised for the advertising campaigns for the German tobacco brand Ravel. He was appointed chief illustrator in the 1950s, a position that affirmed his graphic talent and one that brought an elegance to the art of smoking! With his bold yet sensitive use of colour and brushwork, Grimm naturally became one of the finest fashion illustrators of his time. His work could regularly be seen in Die Frau, Die Dame and Elegante Welt in Germany and Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Esquire Magazine in the US in both editorial and advertising work. Grimm’s sensitive use of brushstrokes created a strength and elegance that naturally places him within the category of a twentieth century master of fashion illustration.
René Gruau (1909 - 2004) Italian René Gruau’s timeless narratives of elegance and style ushered in a new era of fashion illustration in the 1940s and 50s that is both instantly recognisable and highly sought after. Beneath the façade of effortless illustration, in which the influence of Toulouse-Lautrec and Japanese woodcuts can be clearly seen, there is a strength of line that is central to his approach to drawing. Whether through energetic sweeping strokes or delicate and deliberate contours, Gruau’s unique style made him a creative visionary and one that places him firmly at the forefront of the grand masters of fashion illustration. In his early career, Gruau contributed fashion illustrations to the Italian magazine Lidel before moving to Paris. The magazine International Textiles recognised the power of his creative talent and were among the first
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to commission his artworks for the front covers of the magazine. The French magazines Marie Claire, Femina and L’Album Du Figaro were swift to follow. Jacques Fath, Balenciaga, Lanvin, Givenchy, Schiaparelli and Rodier all regularly commissioned Gruau to illustrate their collections however it is with Christian Dior that Gruau is most closely associated. Following the launch of the New Look in 1947, Gruau was appointed advertising director, a role in which he was to continue into the late 1990s. One of his most famous early advertising works for Dior was the Miss Dior perfume launched in 1947. In 1948 Gruau relocated to the United States to work for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue and as exclusive artist for Flair magazine. Later advertising artworks for Martini, Fiat and Air France are amongst his most recognisable alongside the cinematic poster artwork for La Dolce Vita (1959) and spectacular advertising for Le Lido and Moulin Rouge, Paris. A major retrospective of Gruau’s work with Dior entitled ‘Dior Illustrated’ was held in London at Somerset House (2010) and in Munich (2012) at the BMW Museum. Other exhibitions have included solo shows at the Palais Galliera Musée de la Mode, Paris (1989) and Musée de la Publicité, Paris (1999). The Musée du Louvre, Paris holds a number of Gruau’s works in their permanent collections.
Tom Keogh (1922 - 1980) American Although born in America, Keogh was a formidable name in French fashion illustration, graphic design and theatre. Following his first Vogue cover in December 1947, Keogh was to illustrate for French Vogue throughout the 50s and early 60s. His simplified line, most often in dark black ink was spirited and confident bringing an element of surrealism to his art that charmed both clients and audiences. He illustrated for Nina Ricci, Balmain, Schiaparelli, Dior, Balenciaga and Jacques Griffe as well as for the perfumes of Elizabeth Arden and Jean Dessès. In the 1950s Keogh designed the Christmas windows for Galleries Lafayette, Paris. As a graphic artist and set and costume designer, Keogh worked alongside Christian Bérard, Cecil Beaton and Christian Dior at Les Ballets des Champs-Élysées, Paris which at the time was a haven of modernist work producing cutting edge new ballet productions. Alongside his work in French fashion and theatre, Keogh also designed costumes for film, most notably for Marlene Dietrich in Kismet (MGM 1944) and Judy Garland and Gene Kelly in The Pirate (MGM 1947).
Henry Koehler (1927 - 2018) American Henry Koehler, a graduate of Yale, was a highly intuitive and sophisticated artist working principally for The New Yorker, Town & Country, Sports Illustrated and Vogue and for clients such as Elizabeth Arden in 1950s and 60s America. His work exemplified the glamour and style of New York society during this period through a balanced
elegance with compelling narrative and perfect composition. Throughout Koehler’s life he himself was considered one of the best looking and debonaire gentlemen of New York and Long Island society. In 2017 at the grand age of 90, Vanity Fair voted him one of the best dressed men internationally. Amongst his most high-profile commissions was a series of pictures commissioned privately by the Kennedy family on their private sailboat Victura. Following Koehler’s success as an illustrator, he became America’s most revered equine artist with exhibitions worldwide and an international following that includes the British Royal family. The 10 cent US postage stamp commissioned in 1974 to commemorate the 100th running of the Kentucky Derby was created by Koehler.
Antonio Lopez (1943 - 1987) Puerto Rican One of the foremost illustrators of the twentieth century, Antonio Lopez remains a highly regarded and influential figure in the world of art and fashion. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York, Antonio attended the Fashion Institute of Technology where he met and began his life-long creative collaboration with fellow artist Juan Ramos (b. 1942 Puerto Rico). Antonio rose to prominence whilst at university in the 1960s, illustrating fashions for Women’s Wear Daily and The New York Times. His unusual compositions, vibrant use of colour, collage, and off-beat models paved the way for a radical new visual vocabulary that had yet to hit the mainstream media. Yearning for a creative freedom that he felt was unattainable in the United States, Antonio and Juan relocated to Paris in 1970. His career entered a new phase of global visibility. His artworks appeared in leading international publications including Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire, and campaigns for iconic New York brands such as Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom and brought to life the designs of seminal fashion houses such as Versace, Missoni, Armani and more. For the last decade of his life, Antonio and Juan returned to New York City. His commercial career flourished, and he expanded his oeuvre, guest editing two issues of Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine, consulting for Fiorucci, designing textiles for Japan, and publishing two books: Antonio’s Girls (Congreve, 1982) and Antonio’s Tales from the Thousand and One Nights (Stewart Tabori & Chang, 1985). Antonio and Juan died from complications related to AIDS in 1987 and 1995, respectively. Solo and group exhibitions include LAFORET Museum, Tokyo (1987); The Museum at FIT, New York (1988); Musée des Arts Decoratifs Palais du Louvre, Paris (1994); Modemuseum, Munich (1995); MUDAC, Lausanne (1996); Royal College of Art, London (1997); Design Museum, London (2010); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2011); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2014); El Museo del Barrio, New York (2016); The Getty Center, Los Angeles (2018); Centro Cultural de Cascais, Portugal (2019); Fondazione Sozzani, Milan (2019); Nottingham Contemporary, UK (2020); The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh (2020); and The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn (2020).
Ali Mahdavi (1974 - ) French Ali Mahdavi is known as the ‘Ambassador of Glamour’ and is one of the most significant artistic talents of our generation. An acclaimed fashion photographer, visual artist and artistic director he was awarded the principal prize at the Grand Prix du Centre du Luxe in 2011 for his outstanding contribution to the Arts. In 1981, having fled Iran, Mahdavi studied fine art and fashion design in Paris and London before graduating from L’École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts, Paris. At the root of Mahdavi’s creativity is a fascination with the definition of beauty through visual representation. His endless study and intricate understanding of the anatomical physique underpins each element of his work and is one that can be seen most spontaneously and dramatically in his line drawings. Mahdavi has been commissioned to work on illustrative projects for multiple international magazines and brands including the hotel group Mandarin Oriental. From 2008 - 2017 Mahdavi was Artistic Director of The Crazy Horse, Paris directing the Désirs shows collaborating with a long line of guest stars including his long-time muse Dita Von Teese in 2009. As a visionary photographer, Mahdavi has worked with magazines including Vogue, Vanity Fair, Numéro, Glamour Italy, Elle, Citizen K, I-d Magazine and Dazed and Confused, for luxury brands Cartier, Christian Louboutin, Cointreau, Dom Perignon, Agent Provocateur and Balmain and has shot celebrity portraits of Tom Ford, Kylie Minogue, Catherine Deneuve, Karl Lagerfeld, Donatella Versace, Giorgio Armani, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Dita Von Teese, Christian Louboutin and John Galliano. Mahdavi’s work is held in the permanent collections of Maison Européene de la Photographie, Paris, The Design Museum, London and House of World’s Cultures, Berlin. Exhibitions have included Galerie 213 Marion de Beaupré, Paris (2000); Gallery Edward Mitterrand, Geneva (2001); Scout Gallery, London (2003) and Gourvennec Ogor, Marseille (2015). Mahdavi’s work is a masterclass in the art of creating atmosphere, tension and extreme beauty through the visual arts whether it be in photography, film, illustration or set and costume design.
Robert Melendez (1944 - ) American Robert Melendez was a leader in the field of American fashion illustration during the mid to late twentieth century, revered for his skilled draftsmanship and ability to communicate fashion with an energy and beauty that jumped off the page. Melendez worked in a multiple of mediums and techniques with an enviable understanding and knowledge of both drawing and composition. Originally from Tampa, Florida Melendez moved to New York City to study at Parsons School of Design before being appointed staff illustrator for Women’s Wear Daily and Daily News Record from 1967 - 1991. His elegant drawings for Saks Fifth Avenue appeared in The New York Times from 1971 - 1973. Melendez was also a staff illustrator for The Tobe Report 1991 - 2005. His illustrious career included
clients such as B. Altman & Co., Bonwit Teller, Plymouth Shops, Henri Bendel and Bergdorf Goodman, alongside regular contributions in The New York Times, The Fashions of The Times magazine.
Pierre Mourgue (1890 - 1969) French Underlying every stroke by Pierre Mourgue was a chic Parisian style that ensured that he was to become one of the most revered masters of fashion illustration. Mourgue drew with an innate sense of elegance, portraying his subjects with a demure subtlety that charmed an audience. As a young artist in the early 1900s Mourgue was appointed house illustrator for the influential French fashion magazine Gazette du Bon Ton. In 1920, when Condé Nast purchased the magazine, Mourgue was invited to move to New York to continue the success of the magazine. For the following thirty years Mourgue became one of the most sought-after illustrators both in France and the US drawing with an understated elegance and flair that guaranteed him continual work with Vogue, including numerous front covers. Alongside Mourgue’s work for Vogue, La Femme Chic, L’Officiel de la Couture et de la Mode de Paris and Femina, Mourgue created exceptional illustrations for the couture houses of Jacques Fath, Lanvin, Dior, Balenciaga, Balmain and Givenchy and department stores including Au Printemps, Paris.
Robert Passantino (1945 - ) American Robert Passantino’s illustrative style is elegant, graphic, stylised and sophisticated with a strong sense of design. Passantino studied fashion design at Pratt Institute, New York and fashion illustration at The Fashion Institute of Technology, New York before joining the hallowed offices of Women’s Wear Daily from 1969 - 1991 where his expert draftsmanship could be seen daily reporting the world of fashion and beauty in an instantly recognisable style that readers naturally responded to with delight. The Tobe Report followed from 1993 - 2005 and freelancing thereafter. Passantino’s work has featured in fashion magazines internationally and in many books dedicated to the art of fashion illustration. During Passantino’s creative career clients have included Bloomingdale’s, B. Altman & Co., Calvin Klein, Anna Sui and Norma Kamali and his work is held in the permanent collections of The Frances Neady Collection of Original Fashion Illustration, New York and Drexel University, Pennsylvania.
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Gladys Perint Palmer (1947 - ) British
Steven Stipelman (1944 - ) American
Gladys Perint Palmer is an acclaimed artist, fashion illustrator, portratist and journalist whose energetic artworks vividly bring fashion to life with dramatic visual effect. Her strength of line is characteristic with an artist entirely secure in communicating a powerful message with assurance and style whilst also ensuring an honesty that resonates with an audience. GPP (as she is known) was awarded her first Vogue cover in the 1960s. In line with the tradition of fashion illustrators attending the couture shows in Paris, London and Milan and with a career that has spanned over fifty years, GPP has documented the couture collections of designers such as Dior, Chanel, Yves St Laurent, Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Prada, Armani and Jean-Paul Gaultier illustrating for Vogue, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Sunday Times, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and Italian Grazia. Of particular note was her long association with Anna Piaggi, the legendary editor of Italian Vogue for whom in 1989, Piaggi arranged a solo exhibition of GPP’s work in Milan. Advertising clients have included Oscar de la Renta, Dior, Valentino, Galliano and Chanel as well as Neiman Marcus and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. GPP was Fashion Editor of the San Francisco Examiner from 1985 - 1991, Executive Director of Fashion at Academy of Art University, San Francisco (1995 - 2014) and later Executive Vice President (2014 - 2016). GPP’s work has been exhibited internationally in New York, San Francisco, Milan, Paris, Hong Kong and London. In 2020 her work was included in the acclaimed exhibition ‘Fashion Illustration: The Visionaries’ held at The Society of Illustrators, New York. GPP’s work is included in many books including a special commission by Gianni Versace for Do Not Disturb (Abbeville Press) in 1996. Books of her own work include Fashion People (Assouline) and Adam & Yves (Firefall). GPP’s drawings are held in the permanent collections of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Los Angeles; The Victoria and Albert Museum, London; San Francisco Academy of Art; Issey Miyake Collection, Tokyo and The Museum of Modern Art, Montreal. GPP is now considered one of the most important and respected fashion illustrators of the modern era, an artist who carried the tradition of fashion illustration vividly through a period where fashion illustration was often overlooked for the more fashionable camera.
The painterly quality of Stipelman’s work places him firmly in the category of a fine art painter whilst also being one of the most respected American fashion artists of the latter half of the twentieth century. For more than twenty five years Stipelman created breathtaking illustrations for the pages of Women’s Wear Daily and W Magazine with beautiful, elongated silhouettes that instantly communicated a sophisticated look with vivid clarity. Stipelman’s work brings the impression of movement through a spontaneity of brush strokes, acrylics and watercolour washes that appears timeless in their elegance. Having graduated from The Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, Stipelman’s first position was as staff illustrator for the luxury department store Henri Bendel before moving to Women’s Wear Daily in 1965. Here he covered the collections of every prominent American designer including Ralph Lauren, Donna Karen, Bill Blass and Oscar de la Renta. In Paris, Stipelman illustrated Dior, Balenciaga, Pauline Trigère, Pierre Cardin, Yves Saint Laurent and Courrèges for an American audience. Freelance work included Lord & Taylor and Marshall Field’s, Estée Lauder and Chanel cosmetics and Valentino. In the 1970s and 80s he was commissioned to draw the portraits of Babe Paley, Jaqueline Onassis and Nancy Reagan. Today, Stipelman shares his passion and knowledge as an esteemed professor at The Fashion Institute of Technology, New York and is author of Illustrating Fashion: Concept to Creation (Fairchild Books) now in its third edition.
Rosemary Torre (1933 - ) American Rosemary Torre inspired a generation of fashion students as Professor of Illustration at The Fashion Institute of Technology, New York and her expertise in the field of fashion illustration is legendry. As a young illustrator in the 1960s Torre (née Stuglia) worked as a staff fashion illustrator for Saks Fifth Avenue as well as for clients that included the high-end New York department store Franklin Simon, Revlon and Women’s Wear Daily. Torre’s work adhered strictly to the S-curve method of fashion drawing ensuring the physical body carried perfect proportions - a technique that produces exceptionally clean lines, simple forms and solid anatomical figures. Torre’s preferred medium of ink and brush line was influenced by Japanese woodblock prints; a technique that many of the finest fashion illustrators have been influenced by including René Gruau and Gladys Perint Palmer. In 2011 Torre wrote The Feminine Ideal. 20th Century Fashion Illustration (Dover Publications) with a forward written by Harold Koda, the former curator in chief of The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In 1983 Torre coestablished The Frances Neady Collection of Original Fashion Illustration, New York. The archive holds over three hundred original works by the masters of twentieth century fashion illustration and is considered one of the most prestigious collections worldwide.
Glenn Tunstull (1950 - ) American As one of the A-list fashion illustrators of the 70s and 80s, Tunstull’s fashion illustrations defined a generation of fashion. Following graduation from Parsons School of Design, New York, Tunstull’s work was regularly published in US Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times, Marie Claire and Women’s Wear Daily. As the first African American fashion illustrator to work for Women’s Wear Daily, Vogue Italia featured Tunstull in a special edition that celebrated his outstanding contribution to the Arts. The elite of fashion championed Tunstull’s work including Hermes, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Versace, Kenzo, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus. Beauty campaigns included exceptional drawings for L’Oréal and Revlon. Tunstull is now a reverred professor at The Fashion Institute of Technology, The Pratt Institute and Parson’s New School of Design, New York. Aside from teaching, Tunstull is also a highly regarded fine art painter with a significant international following predominantly of expansive landscapes and seascapes based on close observation.
Marcel Vertès (1895 - 1961) French As a young artist Vertès found success sketching for sensationalist magazines in Budapest, Hungary where he was born. He later moved to Paris, studying at the Académie Julian and establishing himself in the vibrant Paris art scene. Vertès’s work was whimsical, graceful and romantic yet with a raw honesty that defined him as one of the most important artists and illustrators of the period. During his career Vertès divided his time between Paris and New York illustrating for Vogue, Vanity Fair and Harper’s Bazaar whilst also designing costumes and sets for theatre, ballet and film. In 1952 Vertès won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design and Art Direction for Moulin Rouge starring Zsa Zsa Gabor. Of particular note was Vertès’s long-term collaboration with Elsa Schiaparelli that saw him illustrate her couture collections, perfume bottles and advertising promotions to great acclaim. In New York, Vertès famously painted the original murals for the Café Carlyle in The Carlyle Hotel and the Peacock Alley in the The Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Vertès published a number of books including The Stronger Sex, Art & Fashion in collaboration with Bryan Holme, It’s All Mental, a satire on psychoanalysis and Amandes Vert, an illustrated biography. Vertès’s work is held in the permanent collections of museums worldwide including MoMA, New York. In 1955 Vertès was awarded the French Légion d’Honneur for his services to the Arts.
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