IMPRESSIONISM, FASHION AND MODERNITY at the MET

As a rising Fashion Major and enthusiastic painter I was very excited to see the Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity exhibition at the met. The collection presents a unique and in depth look at the Impressionists and their contemporaries and the influence of Parisians in fashion from the mid 1860’s to the mid- 1880s when Paris became the ‘style capital of the world’.

I loved the various displays of paintings, photography; prints ball gowns, top hats, day clothes, intricate lace and patterned fans, silver hand mirrors, silk slippers, leather gloves and other personal objects.

My personal favorite galleries were The White Dress, I pictured the luxury these women must have felt in the comfort of not having to wear the shockingly constricted corsets. The met wrote that there was a peaceful and at ease nature between the artist and his female subject matter as she wore her white day dress, which was usually worn in the privacy of ones home. The difference of environment from society balls to nature shows the artists talent at perceiving both sceneries.

At last the subject matter of art includes the simple intimacies of every day life in its repertoire’.

Robert Smith wrote a positive response for the New York Times for the exhibit, ‘A mixture of great paintings and lavish garments and accessories — everything 19th-century French or inspired thereby — it is certain to attract multiple demographics in great numbers.’ An observation she made to the precision. I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of people as I tried to get a close observations at some masterful art work, and was often a little nudged out of place, least to say I was surprised by the security. ‘No pictures please’ was uttered a noticeable amount of times from rather hefty security guards who looked more like Beyonce Knowles body guards than the museum staff.

The exhibition was organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and will be shown there in June. Susan Alyson Stein, curator of the Mets version did a wonderful job at balancing the costume painting ratio. Its interesting to note that according to Roberta Smith’s article Stein chose a completely different wardrobe from that of the Rosary show, but mostly the same paintings.

In conclusion, an enjoyable show I would recommend to many.