Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art

Glamorous exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum on the life of Elsa Schiaparelli and her fashion house.

I loved this show! It was so well set out and full of beautiful clothes both from the original house and its reboot in this century under Daniel Roseberry. I liked the way it set out the ethos of Schiaparelli's designs then built on that to look at her clients and accessories. It used Roseberry's pieces sparingly through the early rooms before introducing a dedicated display at the end including Ariana Grande's Oscar dress complete with ruby slipper on the back.

I think my favourite room was the semi-circle of jackets displayed like art works and at eye level so you could study the details. That was the only place where I experienced a bottle neck partly caused by the dramatic changing lighting which meant people were pausing to get the best light for a photograph and yes, I admit I was one of the guilty parties.

I loved the room examining her collaboration with artists and the fact they included paintings. It was fantastic to see both the Lobster Dress and the Tear Dress shown with Dali inspired powder compacts shaped like telephone dials.

I went to the show on the members' preview day so it wasn't too busy. I hope they control numbers well so that everyone can get such a good experience. 

Closes 8 November 2026


Reviews

Times

Guardian

Telegraph


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year Exhibition 2019

Image
Delightful exhibition at Clarendon Fine Art showing pictures from the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year TV series. I had loved the series which had set nine artists, both professional and amateur, to paint one of three celebrities. It then had a semi-final and final with them all looking at one sitter and in the final they also took on a commission. I loved the way you watched a picture build and how some were then made or spoiled by one stroke of paint.   Finding these pictures I knew so well in the flesh was therefore fascinating. None of them disappointed. My favourite artist from the final, Tom Mead, works looked just as good in real life if not better as you could see the detail. The show included his impressive self-portrait which he submitted to enter the competition, a wonderful fragmented picture of his reflection in a mirror giving a sense of movement. I loved that it included a large version of him and a miniature. His commission for the final of Jazzie B...
Read more

Titian's The Aldobrandini Madonna : a longer look

Image
A lovely study morning at the National Gallery looking at the Aldobrandini Madonna by Titian lead by Caroline Brook. I thought I knew the National Gallery Titian’s well but I must admit to not consciously looking this one before. On first glance it looks like a standard Madonna and child plus John the Baptist with a saint but as you look closely you start to question whether the figure is a saint as she has no halo or attributes and also to wonder why the Madonna is sitting in the countryside. We started by looking at the context of the picture in 16th century Venice and where it sits in Titian’s career. Titian was prolific in the 1530s when this picture was probably painted but very little of the work survives. For example of 12 works done for the Hapsburgs only 2 survive. We spent a lot of time in the gallery looking first at a Bellini of a Madonna in a landscape and then comparing that to the Titian. The tutor made us look carefully at the work and then we compare ...
Read more

Tai Shan Schierenberg: Men Without Women

Image
Stunning exhibition at Flowers Gallery of new work by Tai Shan Schierenberg. There were just a few large pictures in this show by a former winner of the BP Portrait Award which examined ideas of masculinity in Western society. They grabbed you with their size and colour as you entered the gallery. I loved “No Man Left Behind” a study of two men supporting a slumped figure. I assume he was a drunk on a stag night but it could be a runner in a race. All the figures have a well caught, naturalistic stance. Other pictures showed footballers as he was artist in residence at West Bromwich Albion for a Channel   4 series. My favourite piece was a striking double portrait (140 x 200 cm) called “Brothers”, two young men sitting one behind the other and facing in different directions with a blue bookcase behind.  Closed   23 November 2019
Read more