Fashion in paintings, sculpture, clothing and accessories

[On the cover: Installation view, The art of Fashion. The age of dreams and revolutions 1789-1968, Museo Civico San Domenico, 2023; ph. Emanuele Rambaldi]

Two hundred works and around one hundred items of clothing and accessories (including Salvatore Ferragamo’s shoes) will be on display until July 2 at the San Domenico Civic Museum in Forlì in an exhibition entitled “The art of fashion. The age of dreams and revolutions. 1789-1968″. A lengthy period, stretching from the French Revolution to Pop Art, explores the subtle and complex relationship between the body and clothing as mirrored and documented in the art of the period. The work of both artists and couturiers demonstrates the way in which art and fashion have always influenced each other: a continuous interaction that narrates the social and cultural changes every era has undergone, with continuous citations and cross-references. So, “Woman with Anemones” by Henri Matisse dialogues with Giorgio Armani’s suits, while an evening dress by Elsa Schiaparelli “resonates” within one of the hundred masterpieces on display. Mondrian argued that “Fashion is not only the faithful mirror of an era, but also one of the most direct plastic expressions of human culture”. From the end of the 19th century, and throughout the 20th century, the relationship between artists and fashion became more intense: artists who, in addition to portraying elegance, designed clothes and managed fashion communication, stylists who collected works of art and made it an object of inspiration or the symbol of their contemporaneity.  The names of those that have recounted this unique journey through their masterpieces are innumerable and illustrious. For example, the works of William Hamilton, George Romney, Francesco Hayez, Silvestro Lega, Piet Mondrian, Umberto Boccioni, Giorgio De Chirico, Damien Hirst, interact with fashion items by Charles Frederick Worth, Ventura, Mariano Fortuny, Paul Poiret, Salvatore Ferragamo, Coco Chanel, Germana Marucelli, Valentino Garavani and Pierpaolo Piccioli, Giorgio Armani, Christian Dior.

VALENTINO, Linea Klimt Haute couture, autumn-winter, 1992-1993 Rome, Maison Valentino