SWANKY TOUR OF MARYHILL MUSEUM
June 2, 2024, Sunday; 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM
TICKETS HERE
SWANKY TOUR OF MARYHILL MUSEUM
June 2, 2024, Sunday; 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM
Dress up in your favorite Museum-going frock or suit. We’re going fancy!
Arrive at Columbia Park (North Woolsey & N Winchell, North Portland) at 8:10 AM.
We leave North Portland at 8:30 AM arriving at the Maryhill Museum after 10 AM on a private chartered bus with restroom on board.
The museum Art Curator himself, Steve Grafe, will give a private 45-50 min lecture with research and unpublished photos of La Theatre de la Mode to the entire group in the Education Center! A special treat for us!
UPDATED: PRIVATE lunch will be provided in the Education Center, menu below, including beverages (even beer or wine if you choose.)
You and your sewing friends will have until 3 PM to roam through the exhibits at Maryhill Museum, taking in the Rodin, the Queen of Romania, and the many other amazing exhibits on display. Many opportunities to meet new friends and bond with old friends.
Bus leaves Maryhill Museum at 3 PM and will arrive back in Portland approx 4:30-5 PM. Swag bags, new friends, & bonding experiences included.
(bus pick up and drop off is tentatively set for the NW corner of Columbia Park with plenty of free street parking and on the #75 bus line.)
Lunch options (choose upon checkout):
Served on your choice of regular bun or Gluten Free bun, and with either baked chips or homemade potato salad. (Vegan Cream cheese available.)
- Maryhill Veggie Sandwich – Cucumbers, Roma tomatoes, cream cheese, capers, red onions, roasted red peppers and green leaf lettuce.
- Black Forest Ham & Cheddar Cheese Sandwich – Ham and cheddar with Sam Sauce and green leaf lettuce
- Roasted Turkey & Provolone Sandwich – Roasted turkey and Provolone with Sam Sauce and green leaf lettuce
- Smoked Salmon Sandwich – Locally smoked salmon with cream cheese, capers, red onions, roasted red peppers, and green leaf lettuce
Beverage options (choose 1 at lunch on day of event):
hot tea, fountain soft drink, hot coffee, bottled water, iced tea, flavored iced tea, lemonade, Italian soda, flavored lemonade, cold brew coffee, beer, AND bottles of wine on tables.
Covid & other precautions:
Frocktails follows CDC guidelines. You may choose to wear a mask or choose not to – either choice will be respected.
From Maryhill:
Maryhill’s guidelines are informed by CDC and Washington State Health protocols. Please read on for information about current admission procedures, operations and policies.
- In accordance with state COVID-19 guidelines, visitors and staff are no longer required to wear masks while in the Museum. We encourage and support individuals to make masking choices that best suit them.
- Disposable masks are available upon request and free of charge.
- If you are not feeling well, we ask that you visit the museum on another day.
- Respect others wearing masks
READ MORE FROM Steve Grafe, Maryhill Museum Art Curator, below:
01 Théâtre de la Mode set in situ at Maryhill Museum of Art, 2021. The décor is a 1988–1990 reproduction of André Dignimont’s 1945 At the Palais-Royal (recreated by Anne Surgers). The mannequins are attired in spring/summer 1946 fashions.
02 “Poudre d’Iris” ensemble by Jacques Fath (French, 1912–1954), coiffure by Gervais, gloves by Codet & Teilliet, c. 1946, approx. 27½” tall (without hat). The mannequin is from Georges Wakhévitch’s 1946 Place des Vosges décor.
03 Shantung dress by Charles Montaigne (Dutch, 1900–1989), hat by Claude Saint-Cyr, coiffure by Alex Tonio, c. 1946, approx. 27½” tall (without hat). The ensemble is from André Dignimont’s 1946 The Street Fair décor.
The Théâtre de la Mode at Maryhill Museum of Art
Steven L. Grafe, Curator of Art
Important Dates
14 June 1940–25 August 1944: German occupation of Paris.
November 1940: Lucien Lelong’s first visit to Berlin to lobby against the relocation of the Parisian fashion industry to Berlin and Vienna.
October 1944: A project benefiting war relief efforts and showing the continuing vitality of the couture industry is approved by the Chambre Syndicale.
28 March 1945: The Théâtre de la Mode exhibition opens in the Grand Gallery of the Pavillon de Marsan of the Louvre Museum. It remains on view for about five weeks and is visited by more than 100,000 people.
8 May 1945: Germany surrenders (VE Day).
12 September 1945: The Théâtre de la Mode opens in The Prince’s Gallery, Piccadilly, London. Other 1945–46 venues with partial arrays of décors include Barcelona, Stockholm, Leeds, Copenhagen, and Vienna.
1 May 1946: The Théâtre de la Mode opens in New York with new décors and spring/summer 1946 fashions. It then travels to San Francisco, opening on 12 September 1946. It appears in both locations for less than two months.
March 1952: After several years in storage in the City of Paris department store in San Francisco, the Théâtre de la Mode mannequins arrive at Maryhill Museum of Art. By this time, the original stage sets have been lost.
1988–1990: The mannequins return to Paris and are conserved there. Nine replica stage sets (eight from the 1945 Paris exhibition) are created by Anne Surgers.
Noteworthy Personalities
Christian Bérard (French, 1902–1949) served as the overall artistic director for Théâtre de la Mode and was the designer of its Le Théâtre décor.
Béla Bernand (French [b. Hungary], 1911–1967); press photographer who took numerous photos of the staging of the 1945 Paris Théâtre de la Mode exhibition.
Éliane Bonabel (French, 1920–2000) conceived the design of the Théâtre de la Mode mannequins.
Louis Chéronnet (French, 1899–1950); Paris-based art critic and writer who provided the descriptive text for the 1945 and 1946 Théâtre de la Mode catalogues.
Lucien Lelong (French, 1889–1958); couturier who served as president of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture Parisienne from 1937–1945.
Joan Rebull (Spanish [Catalan], 1899–1981) created the plaster heads for the Théâtre de la Mode mannequins.
Robert Ricci (French, 1905–1988); business manager of the Nina Ricci fashion house and PR/Marketing director for the Chambre Syndicale. With Paul Caldaguès and Lucien Lelong, Ricci was responsible for the creation and administration of the Théâtre de la Mode.
Jean Saint-Martin (French, 1899–1988) built the many Théâtre de la Mode mannequins and designed the Croquis de Paris (Paris Sketch) décor.
Anne Surgers (French); theater historian who created nine replica stage sets in 1988–1990.
Paul Verdier (French, 1882–1966) was president of the City of Paris department store in San Francisco from 1904–1966. With Alma de Bretteville Spreckels (1881–1968), he brokered the transfer of the 1946 Théâtre de la Mode to Maryhill Museum of Art.
References and Links
The main reference text for the Théâtre de la Mode is Edmonde Charles-Roux, Herbert R. Lottman, Stanley Garfinkel, et al, Théâtre de la Mode: Fashion Dolls: The Survival of Haute Couture (2002).
The two links below take one to different online exhibitions about the Théâtre de la Mode. Both are provided as PDF files and can be downloaded. The first is a general history and the second discusses the décors:
https://www.maryhillmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Theatre-de-la-Mode-ONLINE-Dec-8-2020.pdf
The Théâtre de la Mode inspired the use of miniature mannequins during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first (of three) is Dior’s 2020 video response. It is essentially a 15-minute movie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxBFwqRbI8c
Moschino (Jeremy Scott) put together a COVID-era runway show with marionettes (7:01-long). It too references the Théâtre de la Mode mannequins:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dpNzuRda0Y
And then there’s this from Walter Van Beirendonck (an 11:50-long video): “I was inspired by what the couturiers did after the war, the Théâtre de la Mode … So, we made the collection in miniature and dressed them on gold dolls, with makeup and everything … The collection is entitled ‘Mirror,’ references shamanistic practice, and [some] contain panels of mirrored fabric: ”I created 22 looks and they’re all very wearable. I didn’t want to do something difficult to put on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUO9b_-x0gY
These links lead to images of the 1949 “Merci Train” (Gratitude Train) mannequins showcasing a 1706–1906 history of French fashion. The project utilized the design of the Théâtre de la Mode mannequins. The first link details the 1949 Brooklyn Museum “Two Centuries of French Fashion Elegance” exhibition. The second and third provide historical overviews, and the last link takes one to a Pinterest page with images of the fronts and backs of many of the dolls:
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/exhibitions/729
https://prezi.com/co11psciw_h9/dolls-of-the-gratitude-train/
https://www.pinterest.com/althornhill/1949-merci-train-dolls/
Here is the Maryhill Museum of Art page on the Google Arts & Culture website. It shows 80 prime items from the museum collection:
https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/maryhill-museum-of-art
Finally, drone footage on the museum’s Facebook page showing Maryhill Museum of Art and its Stonehenge War Memorial in their landscapes. There is no accompanying soundtrack.
https://www.facebook.com/maryhillmuseum/videos/688482918530378
Recent Comments