Meredith Frampton painting Marguerite Kelsey: at Tate Modern, the arty side of fashion
Meredith Frampton, “Marguerite Kelsey”, (1928), Oil on canvas, Tate Modern, London
The painting titled “Marguerite Kelsey” (1928) by Meredith Frampton (1894 -1984) can be found at the Tate Modern in London (room 10). Besides the immediate and undeniable charm of the painting, it is interesting to notice the relationship between figuration and fashion: “A professional artist’s model in the 1920s and 1930s, Marguerite Kelsey (1908?-1995) was renowned for her gracefulness and ability to hold poses for a long time. Her dress and shoes were chosen and purchased by Frampton for this portrait. They are both classical and, being uncorseted, deliberately modern. The simple, short-sleeved pale tunic dress worn with low-heeled shoes and her straight hair were all essential elements of the fashionable ”garçonne style” created by the couturiers Coco Chanel and Jean Patou from the mid-1920s”.The lithe and firm body of the model, with upraised arms, is also depicted in Sir Charles Wheeler’s bronze sculpture “Spring“, in the Tate Gallery, unfortunatly not on display.
January 28, 2014
