The Best Sale Ever
Lot 285:
Description
Keywords: fashion illustration, haute couture, 20th century art, signed lithograph, limited edition print, French artist, figure in gown, floral bouquet, gilded frame, fashion advertising, mid-century design
Summary:
René Gruau (1909–2004), The Bouquet. Hand-signed and numbered lithograph (2/175)
Rene Gruau is a renowned fashion illustrator whose exaggerated portrayal of fashion design through painting has had a lasting effect on the fashion industry. Gruau’s artistic talent in fashion illustration merited him publication at the age of 14 and by the time he reached 18, he was published internationally, in the US, Italy, and France. In his lifetime, Gruau worked for numerous magazines including Marie-Claire, Femina, Elle, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Flair, L’Officiel, and Madame Figaro, and L’Officiel de la Couture. Gruau was hired by major designers like Pierre Balmain, Christian Dior, Jacques Fath, Balenciaga, Elsa Schiaparelli, Rochas, Lanvin, Elizabeth Arden, and Hubert de Givenchy.
Gruau moved to the United States in 1948 to work for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. He remained with the magazine for two years, and then went to work as sole illustrator for Flair. There were exhibitions of Gruau’s work at the Paris Musée du Costume in 1989 and Musée de la Publicité in 1999. Rimini, Italy’s Riviera, has a permanent collection in its city museum. Today Gruau’s works are collected and exhibited by the finest art institutions including the Louvre in Paris.
Measurement: Inside mat: 27 1/2 x 19 1/2 in. (69.9 x 49.5 cm.), Frame: 35 x 27 1/4 in. (88.9 x 69.2 cm.) approx
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