First published 2002
Anne Hollander explores the powerful role of clothing and drapery in Western painting across six centuries of art history. She demonstrates how painters wielded fabric as a tool to heighten drama and deepen the emotional impact of their subjects. Hollander draws evidence from diverse visual sources including masterworks of painting, fashion illustrations, photographs, and cinema. Her analysis reveals how artistic depictions of cloth transformed dramatically after the Renaissance. Painters increasingly embraced ornate and dramatic drapery that grew more theatrical with each generation. This trend reached its peak before a major shift occurred at the close of the eighteenth century. The period brought a wholesale rejection of excess as artists embraced Neoclassical principles that prized restraint and clarity. This movement toward simplicity influenced both artistic representation and actual fashion. Hollander shows how the interplay between real garments and painted fabric created a continuous dialogue between art and life. Her study reveals the subtle ways that artists used the fall of cloth and the weight of fabric to communicate meaning beyond the literal subject matter.
Genres: history, non-fiction, art-history, fashion
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: academic, historical-nonfiction
Period: Renaissance, Neoclassical
192 pages · Paperback · National Gallery London