1 920s Pr imi t ivi s m i n t h e M TS S t u dy Co llect io n Lauren Pardue
is a fascination with cultures of Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Fig. 15. Silk beaded dress.
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In 2020 a group of textiles and garments were donated to the MTS Study Collection by Frances Meffen. They were formerly in the collection of the Newark Museum of Art. One dress was chosen by MTS Summer Program participant Lauren Pardue for research and rehousing. The dress is asymmetrical and features a beaded sash and rows of beaded triangles with fringe that evoque early representations of Native American dress in art and cinema. This connects the dress to the movement known as primitivism, or the fascination of earlier cultures. It is not unlike Orientalism, which
Primitivism found its way into the art and fashion of the late–19th and 20th centuries through painters like Paul Gauguin, Edvard Munch, and Henri Matisse. These paintings can be identified by their use of bright and colorful backgrounds with exotic and sexualized women. Popular fashion designers that took inspiration from global cultures include Mariano Fortuny and Paul Poiret. Their work became popular because it made women feel fashionable, worldly, and colorful. Inside the dresses, the wearer was relatively unencumbered and could imagine a simpler time before industrialization and urbanization.
The MTS Study Collection dress can be dated to the 1920s due to many context clues. The curved C-shape neckline, the low waistline, the sash, the intricate beadwork, and the high hemline were departures from the Edwardian period. However, what leads us to believe that this dress is inspired by primitivism is the use of color, beadwork, and iconography. Though the origins of the dress are unknown, it still tells a story about its wearer. The triangular beadwork maybe
