Page 52 - EXPOTIME!Sept2017

New exhibitions New exhibitions

Léon Bakst: Three costumes for ‘Daphne and Chloé’ by Les Ballets Russes, 1912. Hand painted cotton. Victoria & Albert
Museum, London. Photo: Gemeentemuseum

that of the artists around him, would provide the seedbed Martine, in Paris, where he also sold clothing, accessories
for Art Deco. Poiret can therefore rightly be hailed as the and modern items for the home. He also happened to in-
father of Art Deco. vent the catwalk.

The artists Iribe, Lepape, Barbier and Erté made illus- Poiret gave decadent costume parties, showcasing his
trations of the designs in his first collections, and for his popularity, influence and wealth. These lavish events
‘marketing material’. The images they produced are highly were later emulated by Kees van Dongen and other art-
stylised, decorative and colourful. Poiret gave them full ists. Poiret not only encouraged various artists, he also
artistic freedom to illustrate his designs as they saw them: built an impressive art collection, which included work by
a new and engaging approach. The illustrations not only Brancusi, Picasso and Kees van Dongen. Poiret’s heyday
perfectly suited Poiret’s fashion line, they also provided lasted from 1909 to around 1925. He was omnipresent at
the basis for the visual idiom typical of Art Deco. Poiret the Exposition Internationale des Art Décoratifs et Indus-
was also the first couturier to market his own range of per- triels Modernes in 1925. The western world was clearly
fume (Rosine) – to the chagrin of his contemporary Coco gripped by Art Deco. Nevertheless, this exhibition would
Chanel – and he was also involved in the decorative arts. eventually lead to the downfall of Poiret. He launched
In 1911 he founded a school for decorative arts, Atelier three opulent arks on the Seine, specially designed for the

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EXPOTIME!, issue August/September 2017