FIT Exhibition Showcases Countess Greffulhe's Wardrobe, Proust's Muse
The Museum at FIT is hosting an exhibition titled "Proust's Muse, The Countess Greffulhe," which highlights the fashion of Elisabeth Greffulhe, the inspiration behind Marcel Proust's character Oriane, Duchesse de Guermantes. This showcase, running from September 23, 2016, to January 7, 2017, in New York, features clothing from the 1890s to the 1930s, created by designers such as Frédéric Worth and Paul Poiret. Among the standout pieces is a Byzantine gown worn at her daughter's wedding in 1904. Curated by Valerie Steele and originating from Paris's Palais Galliera, the exhibit also includes works by photographers Otto and Paul Nadar, along with notable items like 1905 red shoes and a 1912 kimono evening coat. Greffulhe, a Belgian noblewoman, passed away nearly 30 years after Proust.
Key facts
- Exhibition "Proust's Muse, The Countess Greffulhe" at Museum at FIT from September 23, 2016 to January 7, 2017
- Features wardrobe of Elisabeth Greffulhe, inspiration for Proust's character Oriane de Guermantes
- Includes designs by Worth, Babani, Poiret, Fortuny, Lanvin, and Rouff from 1890s-1930s
- Show originated at Palais Galliera in Paris as "La mode retrouvée"
- Curated by Valerie Steele, director of Museum at FIT
- Countess Greffulhe patronized Marie Curie, Edouard Branly, Serge Diaghilev, and Ballets Russes
- Exhibition includes photographs by Otto and Paul Nadar, and a pair of 1905 red shoes by Lagel-Meier
- Countess lived through WWII, dying almost three decades after Marcel Proust
Entities
Artists
- Marcel Proust
- Frédéric Worth
- Vitaldi Babani
- Paul Poiret
- Mario Fortuny
- Jeanne Lanvin
- Maggy Rouff
- Auguste Rodin
- Marie Curie
- Edouard Branly
- Gabriel Fauré
- Serge Diaghilev
- René Magritte
- Otto
- Paul Nadar
- Nadar
- Robert de Montesquiou
- Laure Hillerin
- Valerie Steele
- Elisabeth Greffulhe
- Henry Greffulhe
- Armand de Gramont
- Elaine Greffulhe
- Charles Swann
- Tsar Nicolas II
- Fragonard
- Boucher
Institutions
- Museum at FIT
- Fashion Institute of Technology
- Palais Galliera
- Metropolitan Museum
- Ballets Russes
- artcritical
Locations
- New York
- United States
- Paris
- France
- Belgium
- London
- United Kingdom
- Russia
- Combray
- Seventh Avenue at 27 Street
- La Madeleine