In Grace
I’ve been interested lately in fashion editorials that are directly inspired by master artworks. I have collected a few over the years, shoots inspired by Ingres, Bonnard, Gauguin and Tamara de Lempicka. From French Vogue (possibly a 90s or early Noughties issue) and photographed by Michael Thompson, here is a photoshoot styled in the manner of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.
Sublimely beautiful in its simplicity, the image above is directly influenced by Ingres’ painting Half Figure of a Bather, (below) although my preference is for the second, The Bather of Valpincon (1808). There is a wonderful flavour of aristocratic indolence with the towels wrapping the hair as in a Turkish hammam. (Where else can one be literally waited on hand and foot these days?)
Half Figure of a Bather, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1807
The Bather of Valpincon, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1808
I actually do not like these clothes much at all: they are far too fussy for me, even if I had occasion to don them. The hairstyling, and headdresses are great though – so evocative of historical paintings. The little black tiara in the third image is actually a nineteenth century comb (or a copy of one) – a wonderful gothic take on a traditional tiara. What an enviably beautiful glow these models possess too. I love the minimal, natural makeup; the heavy-lidded eyes – it’s quite startling to see naked eyelashes.
The photographs are beautiful works of art in their own right: here is the whole shoot below.
Click on images for larger versions.
