Paris: the Bourdelle Museum shows what artists have worn

• 1798the year the law classified painters among artists
• 1857the year of Paul Delaroche's portrait in a coat
• 1922the year of Joachim Costa's L'Imagier

The Musée Bourdelle in Paris, presents the exhibition The Fabric of the Artist. It brings together clothing and accessories worn by artists, including Gustav Klimt's blue smock and Rosa Bonheur's jacket. The display follows a chronological order, from the late 18th century to Joseph Beuys, and shows how dress reflects the status and identity of the artist.

Lili Davenas, the exhibition's co-curator, writes in the catalogue that these garments were "worn, still damp with sweat not long ago". According to Beaux Arts, they are precious archives rather than relics: they sketch a portrait in negative of their wearers.

A change of status serves as the starting point. According to Beaux Arts, artists began to see their position shift from the late 18th century. On 22 October 1798, the finance law grouped painters, engravers and sculptors under the term artists. From then on, it became a matter of showing one's singularity rather than forming a community like craftsmen.

From the fur coat to the respectable look

painting:painting-inspired-by-rembrandt-van-rijns-self-portrait-at-age-34-n-2-celebrated-artist-tribute|Self-Portrait at 34|Inspired by Rembrandt van Rijn|portrait

The studio cap is a soft headpiece, common among creators of the 19th century, already seen in self-portraits by Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt. Paul Delaroche's portrait, painted in 1857 by Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury, shows him in a fur-lined coat, a sign of elegance, success and fortune according to Beaux Arts.

painting:painting-inspired-by-claude-monets-gare-saint-lazare-n-2-celebrated-artist-tribute|The Gare Saint-Lazare|Inspired by Claude Monet|left

The Impressionists Claude Monet, Frédéric Bazille and Edgar Degas followed the men's fashion of the late century, favouring a respectable appearance, which Lili Davenas describes as a cliché of modern dandyism. The extravagant costumes of the early 19th-century Romantics, by contrast, are absent from the exhibition.

Rosa Bonheur and Klimt, personalised garments

Rosa Bonheur wore a jacket, with a waistcoat and a full skirt, so she could work at ease. Rosa Bonheur requested a permit to cross-dress in order to wear trousers. Her jacket bears a small red rosette sewn on, a nod to her Légion d'honneur, which she was the first woman artist to receive. Rosa Bonheur customised her clothes with embroidered ornaments.

painting:painting-inspired-by-gustav-klimts-portrait-of-adele-bloch-bauer-n-2-celebrated-artist-tribute|Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer|Inspired by Gustav Klimt|portrait

Gustav Klimt did the same with his blue smock, likely with the help of his companion Emilie Flöge, a dressmaker. According to the curators, its loose cut recalls caftans, Coptic tunics and Russian sarafans as much as Japanese kimonos.

In the 20th century, dress asserts a chosen identity too. Romaine Brooks and Marie Laurencin play with androgyny, Claude Cahun stages themselves in masculine guise, and Marcel Duchamp reinvents themselves as Rrose Sélavy. Léonard Foujita designs a Breton smock in Japanese fabric, while Frida Kahlo borrows her dress from Tehuana artisans.

The display ends with Joseph Beuys, whose grey felt suit, his signature material, was worn during performances. According to the curators, this sober, austere outfit, tied to the artist's legend, stands in for Beuys himself. Like Yayoi Kusama's dots or Pablo Picasso's sailor top, the garment becomes an identity rather than a mere accessory.

Our take

This exhibition reminds us that an artist presents themselves through what they wear, long before showing their canvases. We see here a way of looking at a painting while thinking of the person who made it, their gestures and the way they stood before the world.

Source: Beaux Arts.

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