Elegance and Decadence

Don't you just hate it when you find out about something that you really would have loved to have seen but are about 3 years too late?  I just learned of a gorgeous art/design/textile exhibition in Venice that took place at the Palazzo Fortuny (Textile god Mariano Fortuny's home and workshop) that I would have loved to have seen in person.  Living in New Orleans where elegance and decadence (not to mention Masquerade Balls and Carnival) are events de rigueur, I have always had an affinity for Venice.  So when I saw these gorgeous images of the Roberto Cappucci exhibition at the Palazzo Fortuny, I pinned them all over my studio for inspiration.

For those of you who, like me, missed the event that ran in 2009, here is a private cyber tour of the exhibition.  Like all good tour guides, I am compelled to tell you the significance of this exhibit and give you a little bit of a background into the two great artists behind this event.

Mariano Fortuny was painter, stage designer, inventor of lights and costumes, a true “shaman” of the printed fabric; Roberto is also an artist – architect, creator of convoluted shapes for his exhibition designs, his creations are weaved as clothes but thought as sculptures. Two cultivated and sophisticated artists able to navigate the world of fashion leaving the permanent signature of genius. The Foundation “Musei Civici di Venezia” paid tribute a couple of years ago to Roberto Capucci with an extraordinary exhibition organized at Palazzo Fortuny, Mariano’s house and workshop. Thirty dresses/sculptures realized between 1978 and 2009, are able to describe this specific period of the Master’s development. From the famous Column dress, breaking point of his relationship with traditional tailoring, to the Fan dress a symbol for untamed creativity; we can also admire his creation from the Eighties, with decorations of all shapes and surfaces: flat, tubular, flower-shaped, squared or resembling capitals…- one of the most remarkable is Fuoco (Fire) with an explosion of volume and waves stretching aloft.

Without any further ado, let's start with the gowns....

This gown takes my breath with the drama of the colors and ruffles.

A side view.

The famous red fan wedding dress.

Side view

Imagine the stares you would get walking into a ball with this dress.

The perfect Purple, Gold and Green Mardi Gras gown.

 The masked face on the waist would be topic of conversation at a cocktail party.

These two ladies seem very much made for each other.

The barrister in me loves this black gown with the dramatic green interior sleeves.  The masked face on the waist is simply surreal.

This gown is absolutely stunning, almost angelic.  The perfect way to end the tour.

Roberto Capucci at Palazzo Fortuny

Hope you enjoyed this mini-trip to Venice.  And, as always, I hope you have a wonderful weekend, wherever this post finds you.

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