December 10, 1998 - March 14, 1999
Costume Institute Gala: Monday, December 7
The Costume Institute, ground floor
Cubism and Fashion — an exhibition demonstrating how the fundamental traits of Cubism in art have been translated into fashion — will open in The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art on December 10, 1998. The examples on display will range from the beginnings of Cubism in 1908 to the present day. This landmark exhibition will be launched on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of The Costume Institute Gala, known as the "Party of the Year."
The Cubism and Fashion exhibition and benefit for The Costume Institute are made possible by Prada.
Rotation, indeterminate forms, geometries, and collage, all the properties of Cubism, were equally evident in fashion beginning in 1908 and continuing into the early 1920s. Some of the most glittering and elegant dresses of the teens and twenties benefited from Cubism's concepts. Designers included in the exhibition will be Madeleine Vionnet, Callot Soeurs, and Gabrielle Chanel.
Further, the exhibition will explore the ways in which the Cubists — especially Picasso, Braque, and Leger — have been a continuing inspiration to fashion designers. In a final gallery, the exhibition will tackle how the Cubist vision continues to influence advanced fashion at the end of the 20th century.
Party of the Year
The 1998 Costume Institute Benefit, known as the "Party of the Year," will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a gala dinner-dance on December 7. Miuccia Prada, Paula Cussi, collector of contemporary art and a founder of the Centro Cultural/Arte Contemporaneo, and Pia Getty, creative ambassador, Sephora, will serve as Co-Chairs of the anniversary benefit.
The dinner tickets, with cocktails at 7:30 p.m., are $2,000 per person. The dance tickets are $200 per person in advance, and $300 at the door.
For ticket information, please call Kristin MacDonald (212) 570-3948.
Exhibition Publication
A hardcover book of the same title, by Richard Martin, Curator of the Museum's Costume Institute, will accompany the exhibition. It is available for $10.00 in the Museum's bookshop and on the Web Site Shop.
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November 2, 1998
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