When Art Meets Style

Hello,

Art is transcendent, lifting you out of the ordinariness of everyday and providing a sense of otherworldly potential. Fashion works in just the same way. Both bring together colours, textures and shapes to form beautiful compositions which uplift and inspire.

I love art and style. The techniques, colours, origins and meanings of art are as exciting to me as those of clothing. Clothes are to style what oils are to artists – tools to create masterpieces.

Here I’ve selected favourite paintings by artists I love and curated outfits that reflect their beauty.

I hope you enjoy them.

Gessica X

Gustav Klimt –  Judith And The Head of Holofernes 1901-depicts the biblical figure Judith holding the head of Holofernes after beheading him. Many paintings exist describing the episode in a heroic manner, especially expressing Judith’s courage and virtuous nature. Judith appears as God’s instrument of salvation. Klimt concentrates his pictorial rendering solely on to Judith, so much so that he cuts off Holofernes’ head at the right margin. Judith’s face exudes a mixed charge of voluptuousness and perversion. Its traits are transfigured so as to obtain the greatest degree of intensity and seduction. The slightly lifted head has a sense of pride, whereas her visage is languid and sensual, with parted lips in between defiance and seduction. (Wikipedia)

In Klimt’s painting Judith is a complex figure, both defiant and seductive. Here I’ve reflected the tilt of her head in an asymmetric maxi skirt, its uneven and frayed edges like her robe both shrouding and revealing the layered woman beneath. Klimt’s signature gold is echoed in the gold jacket. The boots are edgy and assertive.

• Gold blazer from Alexander McQueen on Farfetch
• Denim Skirt from Tom Ford on Farfetch
• Statement choker from Gucci on The Luxury Closet
• Metallic boots from Paris Texas on Farfetch
• Feather handbag from Jimmy Choo on Farfetch

Marc Chagall- The Green Violinist 1923 – The work depicts a fiddler as the central figure who appears to be floating or dancing above the much smaller rooftops of the misty gray village below. The style of this work reflects the avant-garde styles that were common in Paris after Chagall relocated there in 1910, but the subject matter is highly indicative of his Hasidic roots in Russia. This is made particularly evident by the central figure of the fiddler, who was a “vital presence in ceremonies and festivals” due to the Hasidic belief in achieving “communion with God through music and dance. ( Wikipedia)

I’ve drawn directly on Chagall’s colour palette in this sleek purple pencil skirt suit paired with a vivid, emerald green turban. The tailored lines of the jacket mirror those of the violinist while the blouse with its soft, flowing fabric lifts the outfit, making it float above the ordinariness of the world. The shoes and bag unify the composition.

• Purple blazer from Alex Perry on Moda Operandi
• Purple maxi pencil skirt from Alex Perry on Moda Operandi
• Lilac silk blouse from Saint Laurent on Farfetch
• Red sling back pumps from Dolci Firme
• Green beaded turban from MaryJane Claverol on Farfetch
• Long red earrings from MaryJane Claverol
• Red handbag from Themoire on Farfetch

Paul Gauguin – Three Tahitians 1897  – Depicts Two women beside a young man offering him a choice between the apple and the flowers. The options are between vice and virtue.

Once again I’m playing with colour and shape, echoing both components of the woman’s robe in the tulle one shouldered top and pants. Red suggests passion and vibrancy. The waterfall of fabric evokes the sense of place; an island paradise with open sands and flowing water, the earrings the exotic birdlife and the swollen pink beads and padded lilac bag the fruits of this paradise.

• Red body suit from Alchemy on Farfetch
• Red trousers from Victoria Beckham
• Lilac straw clutch from Serpui on Farfetch
• Large bird earrings from Mercedes Salazar
• Glossy red pumps from Jimmy Choo on Farfetch

Caravaggio -Amor Vincit Omnia 1601(Love Conquers All) –Shows the roman cupid wearing dark eagle wings, half-sitting on or perhaps climbing down from what appears to be a table. Scattered around are the emblems of all human endeavours – violin and lute, armour, coronet, square and compasses, pen and manuscript, bay leaves, and flower, tangled and trampled under Cupid’s foot. 

This is all about composition – the silver embellished bustier and slinky sequined leggings create a central, ethereal angelic form while the pointed shoulder blazer and spectacular black tulle embellishment combine to form Cupid’s feathered wings. The globe-shaped clutch and rocker heels are emblems of this woman’s endeavour, suggesting both worldliness and attitude. This is pure creative energy.

• Tulle embellished bustier from Oscar De La Renta
• Sequins skinny trousers from Rotate on Farfetch
•  Blazer from Balmain on Farfetch
• Crystal buckled boots from Philipp Plein on Farfetch
• Long embellished earrings from Sterling King on Farfetch
• Clutch bag from Rosantica on Farfetch

Séraphine Louis – Feuilles 1928 (known a Seraphine De Senlis) was a self-taught French artist whose works are predominantly rich fantasies of intensely repeated and embellished floral arrangements. She used colours and pigments that she made herself from unusual and exotic ingredients she never revealed that have stood the test of time for durable vividness. Here we see the same patterns of the repetition of floral motifs and vivid colour in the painting as in the outfit as a whole. While the choker directly references the flowers, the dress, like Seraphine’s work, is more abstract, suggesting soft petals or leaves in various stages of opening, blowing in the breeze. The colours are sensual and vibrant; the boots, quilted together in the form of a tapestry or flower arrangement.

• Multi coloured panelled dress from Roksanda on Farfetch
• Patchwork print boots from Dolce & Gabbana on Farfetch
• Flower choker from Dolce & Gabbana on Matches
• Crochet clutch from Fendi on Matches

Picasso- The Dream 1932 (Le Rêve) portraying his 24-year-old mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter. It belongs to Picasso’s period of distorted depictions, with its oversimplified outlines and contrasted colors resembling early Fauvism.The erotic content of the painting has been noted repeatedly, with critics pointing out that Picasso painted an erect penis, presumably symbolizing his own, in the upturned face of his model.

The curvaceous and sensual woman draped on the chair inspires this equally curvy, floor- dragging draped dress. In both, the sleeves fall revealingly over the shoulder and are framed by beautiful jewels. The shape and colour of the clutch reflect that of her hair, both cubist in form. The flowers on the shoes echo Picasso’s floral wallpaper.

• Red floor dropping dress from Balenciaga on Moda Operandi
• Floral applique shoes from Dolce & Gabbana on Matches
• Clutch from Jimmy Choo on Farfetch
• Selection of crystal necklaces to form choker from Harlequin Market

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