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Yves Saint LaurentMay 29 to September 28, 2008
Images Gallery
The exhibition is divided into four main themes: “The Stroke of a Pencil” where the designer’s idea is followed from the original sketch; “The Yves Saint Laurent Revolution,” where feminized versions of men’s attire rub shoulders with seductive apparel; “The Palette,” which shows how traditional rules of colour harmony were reversed in new contrasts inspired by cross-fertilization; and “Lyrical Sources,” which explores the historical, literary (Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde, Louis Aragon, Jean Cocteau…) and artistic influences that were interpreted and translated by this genius of couture. Throughout his career, Yves Saint Laurent examined the work of the great artists of our day, expressing his personal tastes and the paintings he admired by transforming painting into fabric. Some of his creations reflect the visual sensations of Impressionism, while others liberate the expressive power of some of the great names and movements of modern art: Mondrian and Poliakoff in 1965, the “Pop Art” dresses in 1966, Picasso in 1979 and Braque in 1988. See also the The First Retrospective to Span 40 Years of Creation
Yves Saint LaurentMay 29 to September 28, 2008
The First Retrospective to Span 40 Years of Creation
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco have designed and developed, in partnership with the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, the first retrospective spanning the forty years of creation of the Maison de haute couture Yves Saint Laurent. Presented from May 29 to September 28, 2008, the exhibition Yves Saint Laurent focusses on this virtuoso of haute couture, whose unique style blends references to the world of art with allusions to pop culture and social revolution. Structured around four themes, the exhibition develops the revolutionary nature of a body of work that has marked both the past and the present with a new definition of femininity and left a signature that transcends fashion. The display will include 145 accessorized creations belonging to the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, as well as drawings and videos. After Montreal, the exhibition (which is the first co-production of these two museums) will be presented at the de Young Museum of San Francisco, from November 1, 2008, to March 1, 2009. Yves Saint Laurent is famed for revolutionizing the haute-couture tradition and laying the foundations of modern women’s wear. The wardrobe basics that he designed – pantsuit, culotte skirt, pea coat, blazer, safari jacket and tuxedo – shone with his innovative style and became true timeless classics. His designs were equally remarkable, reflecting wide-ranging sources of inspiration. In Saint Laurent’s stylistic vocabulary, music, art, performance, literature and impressions of far-off places were just as important as the new shapes he introduced.
“Why present Yves Saint Laurent in Montreal? Quite simply because the work of one of the twentieth century’s greatest couturiers is a thing of great beauty. The poetry of each of his creations reflects this man’s incredible sensitivity and vast cultural knowledge. Every square inch of fabric is compelling… Experiencing haute couture up close cannot possibly be compared with viewing its image, which at times becomes hackneyed from its omnipresence in the media. Personally, I was blown away, if you will excuse the expression, when I first saw the storage areas of the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, and I still am. Kudos to this young institution, a model of its kind! In my opinion, to offer all our visitors this ultimate fashion experience in the setting of a fine arts museum is perfectly justified, especially since our city (like the Museum’s multidisciplinary collections) supports creation, art and design in particular. Another aspect of Yves Saint Laurent’s work that touches me is his desire to empower women day and night. He appropriated masculine codes of dress, creating a wardrobe for modern women who were stepping out of traditional roles. This was in stark contrast to the practice of depicting women as Barbie dolls designed to sell products. But above all, he idealized the beauty of all his models, whatever their ethnic background or the colour of their skin (he was the first to use a black model), and his inspiration was nourished by a beautiful soul. Today, more than ever, young designers are re-examining his complex work.” (Nathalie Bondil, Director)
Exhibition Layout
The exhibition is divided into four main themes: “The Stroke of a Pencil” where the designer’s idea is followed from the original sketch; “The Yves Saint Laurent Revolution,” where feminized versions of men’s attire rub shoulders with seductive apparel; “The Palette,” which shows how traditional rules of colour harmony were reversed in new contrasts inspired by cross-fertilization; and “Lyrical Sources,” which explores the historical, literary (Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde, Louis Aragon, Jean Cocteau…) and artistic influences that were interpreted and translated by this genius of couture. Throughout his career, Yves Saint Laurent examined the work of the great artists of our day, expressing his personal tastes and the paintings he admired by transforming painting into fabric. Some of his creations reflect the visual sensations of Impressionism, while others liberate the expressive power of some of the great names and movements of modern art: Mondrian and Poliakoff in 1965, the “Pop Art” dresses in 1966, Picasso in 1979 and Braque in 1988. Exhibition Curators The French fashion historian Florence Müller, Chief Curator of the exhibition, has shared her passion for and knowledge of French fashion and haute couture with Associate Curators Diane Charbonneau, Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and Jill D’Alessandro, associate curator, Caroline and H. McCoy Jones Department of Textile Arts, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Exhibition Design The Agence NC in Paris is responsible for the design of this international travelling exhibition. Publication The exhibition catalogue features texts by Florence Müller and Hamish Bowles. Published in separate English and French editions by Abrams and the Éditions de La Martinière respectively, it distinguishes itself from previous publications devoted to Yves Saint Laurent through its presentation of little-known ensembles and numerous sketches, as well as detailed captions and an illustrated chronology. It includes photos by Alexandre Guirkinger that were shot especially for this publication. The International Exhibition Programme of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts receives financial support from the Exhibition Fund of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Foundation and the Paul G. Desmarais Fund. See also the Images Gallery Yves Saint LaurentMay 29 to September 28, 2008
Interview with fashion historian Florence Müller, Guest Curator for the exhibition
In the beginning, Saint Laurent continued the tradition of haute couture. What were the customs and conventions in this world, and how did Saint Laurent come to question them? Florence Müller: Yves Saint Laurent became familiar with traditional haute couture when he first joined Christian Dior. He “bridged” this tradition and the modernity in fashion that the 1960s clamoured for. At Dior, as at Chanel, women were dressed to have a “total look.” The client was docile, deferring to her couturier and allowing him to impose his dictates. Yves Saint Laurent understood that young women no longer wanted this authoritarian and mathematical vision of trends and the punctilious fussing over hem length or location of the waistline. Youth was ready for an influx of creativity, for clothes that conveyed the enthusiasm of the era, clothes with a modern look – in other words, clothes with style. As such, Yves Saint Laurent, founder of a contemporary fashion house of the emerging stylism, could be considered history’s first couturier-stylist. With his Rive Gauche label, he mastered both the quest for the sublime and the well-made aspect of haute couture and the instant creation of ready-to-wear. History has proven him right. Today, the title of Yves Saint Laurent art director has been substituted for that of couturier. It designates the role of initiator and guardian of the integrity of a style that is reflected in the numerous activities of producing and distributing the ready-to-wear fashions, leather goods and beauty products that define a label’s identity.
The Yves Saint Laurent fashion house ceased its activities in 2002 after forty prolific years. Its unique style, its ultramodern vision and revolutionary wardrobe are now part of the history of fashion and the imagination of an entire generation of women. The name Yves Saint Laurent alone evokes a host of images, but it was time for a retrospective. Why? F. M. A retrospective is fully warranted by the length of Yves Saint Laurent’s career, its impact on design today and the scope of his body of work. The public may not remember all four decades of “revolutions” led by Yves Saint Laurent, which must also be presented to younger people who, in a world dominated by the all-encompassing present, no longer have any time for the past. We need to tell them about his daring, decisive moves, such as that of dressing women in men’s suits for day-to-day wear, revealing the body’s nudity through transparent chiffon and combining discordant colours… We have to remind them of the risks he took, the scandals over controversial issues like the 1971 summer collection and his ladies of dubious charms, a vindication of the flourishing sophistication of neohippie style. We have to go back to the origins of turning military camouflage fabric into a draped dress, peasant blouses, trench coats and aviator and navy jackets turned into luxury objects in satin or sequins.
Women were essential to Yves Saint Laurent. A man of his time, he had a hand in creating the image of the modern woman, freeing the movements of her body and the intensity of her desires. There is the “woman,” the model and the muse. Who are they? F. M. That is one of the keys to his success! Saint Laurent did not design for an abstract, imaginary woman, even if the young women that surrounded him were visions of seduction and elegance. Saint Laurent was born surrounded by beautiful, aristocratic women, like his mother and sisters. He then developed his style for the young women who embraced the spirit of the times. All of them served as muses in their own way. They were close to him: friends who lived at the same pace and moved in the same fashionable circles as he did. And these muses all looked like models: in fact, they were more ideal than models since they also had strong personalities. There was Betty Catroux with her lanky, gaunt, androgynous figure, and Loulou de la Falaise with her bohemian air. Their rebellious, independent character, in defiance of convention, is perfectly symbolized by the Saint Laurent style. There was also the astonishingly elegant actress Catherine Deneuve and his beautiful client Nan Kempner, who said, “It’s a pleasure to be looked at for who you are, not for the clothes you are wearing.”
Yves Saint Laurent is a couturier with a thousand passions. Art, literature, colours and materials intermingle to produce infinite variations. In spite of all this, does he have one overriding source of inspiration? F. M. It is more about his unwavering attention to the materials he worked with, a dedication to a methodology that draws on numerous sources of inspiration. These sources are all filtered through a prism of shifting and combining that produces the unexpected. The references, drawn from literary and artistic culture, are never given a literal treatment. In the end result, which we see on the runway, we can’t really tell where each piece comes from, since its elements combine in a complex alchemy. For his 2007 spring-summer collection, Jean Paul Gaultier created models inspired by sportswear. The idea is hardly new, since Yves Saint Laurent appropriated sportswear back in the 1960s. What is Saint Laurent’s influence on young contemporary fashion designers? Is he seen as a mentor? F. M. Definitely. Saint Laurent is venerated by young designers, all of whom dream of enjoying a career as outstanding as his was. But, more practically, they attempt to discover the mystery behind Saint Laurent’s appeal. Leading designers like Jean Paul Gaultier are quick to point out what they owe to the “master.” In his 2008 summer haute couture collection, Gaultier featured a look that embodies his label’s genetic codes: navy blue pullover, long skirt with gold spangles and a man’s woollen overcoat in midnight blue. But this association of feminine-masculine, day and evening, is perfectly faithful to the basic tenets of the Saint Laurent style.
The Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent welcomed you with open arms. This must have been such an emotionally charged experience! Could you tell us a little about it? F. M. It was one of the high points in developing the project and a fantastic opportunity to actually see and touch examples of this outstanding body of work. My immersion in Saint Laurent’s history lasted several weeks. I spent long days in the storage areas, but time passed quickly! There’s nothing like seeing the clothes and accessories up close to truly appreciate all the refinements in the materials, colours, cuts and the myriad details and subtleties to which photographs can never do justice. It was also fascinating to be guided by the Foundation’s team. They enhanced my research with their captivating comments and their in-depth knowledge of the history of the fashion house. It was hard to refrain from constantly spouting superlatives!
Interview by Diane Charbonneau
Photos: © Bernard Fougères |
