Fall Lecture: Steven L. Grafe, Curator of Art, Maryhill Museum of Art

Barry Art Museum

The Théâtre de la Mode: “A Proof of Ingenuity and Good Taste”

During the Nazi occupation of Paris (1940–1944), the Germans repeatedly sought to move that city’s haute couture industry to Berlin and Vienna. Their efforts were unsuccessful, but during those four years, the Paris fashion houses were kept from exporting, advertising, and making a profit.

Soon after the city was liberated (August 1944), its fashion industry devised a plan to inform the world that Paris couture was still alive and well. This was accomplished by creating miniature mannequins attired in fashions created by Paris’ most important couturiers. These were displayed in stage sets designed by prominent, in vogue Parisian artists. The Théâtre de la Mode premiered in Paris in March 1945—as a benefit for war relief—and it remained on view there for about two months. The display then traveled to London and other European capitals. New fashions and décors were created for a 1946 North American tour with stops in New York and San Francisco.

After the San Francisco exhibition closed, the 1946 fashions were stored in the local City of Paris department store. They were given to Maryhill Museum of Art in 1952 and for more than 35 years, individual Théâtre de la Mode mannequins regularly rotated onto view there. In 1988–1990, they returned to Paris for cleaning and conservation and nine replicas of 1945 stage sets were created. Three of these are now on view at Maryhill at any one time.

Photo caption:
01 Evening dress by Charles Montaigne (Dutch, 1900–1989), coiffure by Azema, c. 1946, approx. 27½” tall; from Joan Rebull’s 1946 Le Caroussel décor; Collection of Maryhill Museum of Art.

Steven L. Grafe completed MA and Ph.D. degrees in Art History at the University of New Mexico. His published works include Peoples of the Plateau: The Indian Photographs of Lee Moorhouse, 1898-1915 (2005), Lanterns on the Prairie: The Blackfeet Photographs of Walter McClintock (2009), and Plateau Pictorial Beadwork: The Fred L. Mitchell Collection (2021). He has served as Curator of American Indian Art at the National Cowboy &amp; Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Chief Curator at the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles, and worked for the National Park Service. Steve has been Curator of Art at Maryhill Museum of Art since 2009, where he is responsible for the Théâtre de la Mode mannequins, numerous Romanian folk textiles, a noted collection of works by Auguste Rodin, expansive holdings of Indigenous American art, and a growing collection of Orthodox Christian icons.

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Fall Lecture: Steven L. Grafe, Curator of Art, Maryhill Museum of Art

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