ArtistDufy, Raoul

Artist Years1877-1953

Artist NationalityFrench

TitleStudy for Poiret

Year1919

MediumDrawing > Mixed Media

DimensionsComposition: 11.3 X 4.4 inches
Sheet: 12 X 9 inches

Accession NumberRC1750

NotesIn his memoir "The King of Fashion" (1931), Paul Poiret (1879-1944) wrote "Am I a fool when I dream of putting art into my dresses, a fool when I say dressmaking is an art? For I have always loved painters, and felt on an equal footing with them. It seems to be that we practice the same craft, and that they are my fellow workers." Dismissing the sibling rivalries that have always dogged the fine and applied arts, Paul Poiret believed that art and fashion were not simply involved but indivisible. As well as presenting himself as an artist and patron of the arts, Poiret promoted his fashions as unique and original works of art in and of themselves. He did this by marshaling the visual and performing arts, and by working with artists associated with avant-garde modernism. Among Poiret's various collaborations, the most enduring was with Raoul Dufy (1877-1953), whose career as a textile designer he helped launch. Dufy's flat, graphic patterns were ideally suited to Poiret's planar, abstract designs, a fact that is palpable in such signature creations as 'La Perse' coat, 'La Rose d'Iribe' dress, and the 'Bois de Boulogne' dinner dress, which is made from a fabric that Dufy designed in conjunction with the silk manufacturer Bianchini-Férier. The three designs are shown at right, as they appeared in The Costume Institute's 2007 exhibition, Poiret: King of Fashion.
(source: Metropolitan Museum of Art)