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300 years of French art and style at the Mobile Museum of Art

T his fall, museum-goers in Mobile, Alabama, will find themselves immersed in a world of glamour and panache, as the Mobile Museum of Art opens its exhibit Picturing French Style: Three Hundred Years of Art and Fashion. The exhibit will run from September 6, 2002, to January 5, 2003, and will present a history of French art and fashion from the 18th century till today. Curator of Special Exhibitions Jill Berk Jiminez coordinated this event, which is the largest exhibition the museum has ever organized. Many public and private collections throughout the world contributed to the exhibition by lending numerous works of fine art. The museum has acquired over 130 pieces that illustrate the progression of French style during the last three centuries, including art from the royal court, and ball gowns and suits created by French designers.
The works displayed during this event will range from portraits showing the luxurious, rococo dress of Versailles to the chic suits that Christian Dior designed in the middle of the 20th century. Spectators will be dazzled by the splendor and innate elegance presented in a variety of ways throughout the exhibition. In addition to showing how style evolved over the years, the exhibition compares and contrasts the statements made by different artists and designers, as well as bridging the gap between art and fashion in French culture. Visitors will be able to view examples of the Napoleanic bee from the emperor’s coronation robe and slippers that were once worn by his stepson. Pieces by Jacques Louis David and Jean-Louis Laneauville will also be displayed to further describe the unique trends of the Napoleanic era.

The section which focuses on the latter half of the 19th century reveals the materialistic desires of the rising bourgeois class. Elegant ball gowns by Charles Frederick Worth accompany a series of works that show society’s taste for oriental style, by Eugéne Delacroix and Narcisse Diaz.

Artists and designers as diverse as Henri Matisse, Paul Cezanne, Coco Chanel and Paul Poiret introduce contemporary design in a myriad of colors. A focus on theater and costume design as an inspiration provides a glimpse at what influenced style during the period. Artistry and craftsmanship prevailed, as shown in the ornate daytime and evening wear. The museum wraps up this spectacular display with Christian Dior’s “New Look” of the 1950s, illustrating the way fashion was affected in a country emerging from a devastating war.