Balenciaga and Spanish painting by Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza

June 1822 September 2019

Balenciaga AND SPANI SH PAI NT I NG

Museo Nacional T hyssen-Bornemisza

A p p l i cat i on d evel op ed w i t h t h e excl u si ve col l abor ati on of :

I n col l abor ati on w i th :

I NT RODUCT I ON

Balenciaga and the Spanish painting links the creation of Cristรณbal Balenciaga, the most admired and influential fashion designer of all time, with the tradition of Spanish painting from the 16th to the 20th centuries. With 90 of his designs on display, this is the first major exhibition dedicated to the Basque couturier to be held in Madrid in almost 50 years and the first to also bring together an important selection of paintings by great names in the history of Spanish art such as el Greco, Zurbarรกn, Velรกzquez, Murillo, Goya, Madrazo or Zuloaga, one of his main sources of inspiration.

T he rooms propose a tour through 56 canvases, which are accompanied by the garments linked to each style or each painter. Connections based on conceptual features, architectural shapes and volumes and chromatic complicities present a fascinating dialogue between couture and painting, between the creativity of the talented fashion designer and his influences. T his presentation also allows us to look at art from a different perspective, focusing on painters as creators and transmitters of fashion and as masters of representation of fabrics, textures and pleats.

T H E EXH I BI T I ON SECT I ONS

Balenciaga and ar t T he exhibition begins with a section featuring paintings that Balenciaga had the chance to admire during his chilhood in Vista Ona, the palace of the Marquises of Casa Torres in Getaria where his mother worked as a seamstress. T hree of the works displayed in the room, lent by the Prado museum, were once part of that collection: an Apostle's Head by Velázquez, a Saint Sebastian by El Greco and Cardinal Luis María de Borbón y Vallabriga by Goya, the latter in dialogue with a magnificent dress and jacket set in red. Equally worth mentioning is the "duel" between a spectacular evening gown and capeline in blue gazar and the mantle in the same color in Murillo's I mmaculate Conception, as is the famous 1939 I nfanta model from Madrid's Museo del T raje, a severe reinterpretation of the female silhouette in the Hapsburg court depicted by Velázquez.

El Gr eco T he next room is dedicated to the influence of El Greco and opens with a night coat in black silk velvet whose frill collar takes us back to the ruff worn by the gentleman portrayed by the Cretan painter circa 1586. T here follow several works on religious themes alongside dresses whose intense colors -pinks, yellows, greens or blues- seem to replicate the same chromatic palette, luminosity and nuances with which El Greco painted the robes and tunics of virgins, angels and saints. Forms and volumes, full of movement and light, are also mirrored in some of the designer's most beautiful creations.

Spanish cour t painting BL ACK

T he section on Spanish painting distinguishes three areas: Black, Still Life and Embroidery. T he court of Philip I I made the use of black clothing fashionable throughout Europe. I t endured over time as a symbol of power and elegance to become one of the archetypal features of Spanish identity. Balenciaga devoted several collections to black in his career, a reflection of the austerity and sobriety of the designer himself who knew how to reinterpret the tincture in a very personal way, incorporating it definitively into the modernity of 20th century international design. T he blacks and whites in the Portrait of the VI Countess of Miranda are echoed by a spectacular satin evening dress combining the same colors, and this also occurs with the set of formal gowns that accompany court paintings such as Queen Elisabeth of Valois, Third W ife of Philip I I by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz and the Portrait of Juana of Austria, Princess of Portugal by Alonso Sรกnchez Coello.

ST I L L L I FE

W hen Balenciaga moved to Paris in 1936, he came into contact with the most important textile manufacturers and print artist, as well as craftsmen in the art of making buttons, flowers and feathers, items that he included in his haute couture creations. Magnificent dresses with floral designs, such as an evening coat in silk organza with flower applications and a pink dress with embroidered Algiers thread tulle, shine in full splendor in this room alongside a selection of still lifes by Spanish painters including Juan de Arellano, Gabriel de la Corte and Benito Espinรณs.

EMBROI DERY

Balenciaga's own collection of apparel incorporated numerous Spanish pieces remarkable for their great ornamental wealth, flaunting rich lace and guipure, embroidered profusely and adorned with beads. I nspired by these and other sources, the Basque couturier included brocade in many of his models, working with the best suppliers of the time. Deserving special mention are the ceremonial dress paired with a likeness of Anne of Austria by Sรกnchez Coello and the wedding dress in silk shantung with silver thread embroidery, whose line resembles the attire of I sabel de Borbรณn, W ife of Philip I V as depicted by Rodrigo de Villandrando.

Fr ancisco de Zur bar รกn Considered by many as one of the first fashion designers, Zurbarรกn is notable for his mastery in representing textiles and the movement of fabrics in his paintings. T he influence on Balenciaga of the volumes, pleats and tactility of the sculptural habiliments of female saints and martyrs rendered by the Extremaduran artist becomes clear when the works of both creators are viewed. T he same happens with the set of wedding dresses displayed in this room -amongst them the one worn by Fabiola de Mora y Aragรณn for her wedding with King Baudouin of Belgium- which confront their whites, shapes and textures with the habits of the friars immortalized by Zurbarรกn. T hese are pieces made with rigid fabrics that are used to invent new and becoming silhouettes with geometric shapes.

Fr ancisco de Goya Balenciaga deliberately wanted to reflect the aesthetics of his home country. Another of the key painters in his imagination was therefore Francisco de Goya, owing not only to the garments and accessories worn by his models, but also to his mastery of color and his way of interpreting contours through tonal shading, which in the designer's works after 1939 translates to successful chromatic harmonies. T he pair formed by the evening dress made of muslin, pearls and sequins and the portrait of the Marchioness of LazĂĄn or that of the satin formal gown, also with pearls and beads, and Queen MarĂa Luisa in a Dress with Hooped Skirt are some of the most striking associations in this section where tulles and laces are suffused with Goya's influence.

T he 19th and 20th centur ies Spanish regional costumes and folk dress from the turn of the century were part of the visual and conceptual universe that Balenciaga would later transfer to his designs. T hat same Spanish identity was also reflected in costumbrista paintings and in the work of contemporary artists such as I gnacio Zuloaga, whom he knew well from San Sebastián. T here are many examples present in this room: a cocktail dress in taffeta with strips embroidered with cotton whose silhouette parallels that of The Dancer Josefa Vargas by Antonio María Esquivel, a short evening jacket in silk velvet with the same "bullfighter's air" as the one worn by Julia by Ramón Casas or the puffed formal gown, also in taffeta, whose line and color resemble that of the Portrait of María del Rosario de Silva y Gurtubay, Duchess of Alba, by Zuloaga.

REL AT ED CONT ENT

I ntr oductor y video:

Vir tual visit

- Making of photo session of the catalogue

- Making of exhibition assembly

Activities: - Temporary exhibition focus: Balenciaga and the Spanish painting - Study Day Balenciaga and the Spanish painting

SOCI AL MEDI A

PUBL I CAT I ONS AND PRODUCT S

Catalogue: -

Balenciaga and Spanish Painting I SBN: 978-84-17173-30-2

Balenciaga y la pintura espaĂąola I SBN: 978-84-17173-31-9

PV P: ?39.50

Format of the book: 240 x 300 mm

I NFORMAT I ON AND CREDI T S

Pr actical infor mation DAT ES

V I SI T OR I NFORMAT I ON SERV I CE

From 18 June to 22 September 2019

Telephone: + 34 917 911 370 Email: cavthyssen@museothyssen.org

ORGANI SER Museo Nacional T hyssen-Bornemisza

Paseo del Prado, 8 - 28014 Madrid OPENI NG T I MES

T uesday to Sunday, 10.00 to 19.00 Saturday, 10.00 to 21.00 Monday closed Summer opening times, 28 June to 7 September : T uesday to Sunday, 10.00 to 22.00 Sunday 10am to 7pm. Monday closed AUDI O GUI DE

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Mor e infor mation

Exhibition details Factsheet TI TLE TI TLE

Balenciaga and Spanish painting. Balenciaga and Spanish painting

ORGANI SER ORGANI SER

M u seo N aci on al T h y ssen - B or n em i sza. M u seo N aci on al T h y ssen - B or n em i sza

CURAT OR CURAT OR El oy M ar t ín ez d e l a Per a. El oy M ar t ín ez d e l a Per a

T ECH NI CAL CURAT OR l a NI L u CAL en go,CURAT cu r at or of TPau ECH ORex h i bi t i on s at th e M u seo N aci h y ssen Pau l a on L ual enTgo, cu r at- Bor or ofn em ex hi sza. i bi ti on s at th e M u seo N aci on al T h y ssen - B or n em i sza

NUMBER OF WORK S NUMBER OFanWORK S of cl ot h i n g. 55 p ai n ti n gs d 90 p i eces 55 p ai n ti n gs an d 90 p i eces of cl ot h i n g

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COV ER I MAGE

I T A r ea. W eb an d N ew M ed i a D ep ar t m en t of M u seo N aci on al T h y ssen - B or n em i sza

B ar tol om é Gon zál ez (cop i a d e A n ton i o M or o) Queen Anne of Austria, fourth wife of Philip I I O i l on can v as, 10 8,5 x 87 cm

CONT ENT

T h e tex ts of t h i s m agazi n e com e f r om th e ex h i bi ti on br och u r e

Coat and dress evening outfit. Satin coat; etamine dress, sequins and ceramic beads)

CREDI T S AND L EGAL DI SCL AI MERS

Portrait Balenciaga, 1946 Ph otogr ap h by L ou i s D ah l W ol f e Col l ecti on cen ter f or Cr eati ve Ph otogr ap h y © Cen tr e f or Cr eati ve Ph otogr ap h y, A r i zon a Boar d of Regen t s

A l l th e con ten t f eat u r ed i n th i s ap p l i cati on i s p r otected by cop y r i gh t an d m ay n ot be p r od u ced w i t h ou t th e p r ev i ou s au t h or i sat i on of i t s r esp eti ve ow n er s. T h e w or k s of ar t t h at h ave been r ep r od u ced ar e al so p r otected by cop y r i gh t an d i t i s f or bi d d en to r ep r od u ce t h em w h ol ly or i n p ar t