Balenciaga, L'Oeuvre Au Noir - Musée Bourdelle

Earlier this week I was fortunate enough to travel to Paris for four nights. As a history of art and design student, travelling to Paris provided me with an invaluable experience as the city is the epicenter of art, fashion, photography and design. During my stay I visited a range of galleries and museums, one of which was the Musée Bourdelle. The museum was exhibiting the life and work of Cristobal Balenciaga (1895-1972), one of the most talented and prestigious designers to have graced this planet. The exhibition, 'Balenciaga, L'Oeuvre Au Noir', was displayed on behalf of the Palais Gallaiera. The gallery was in the process of launching their Spanish season of fashion which will involve displays of an assortment of Spanish designers such as Mariano Fortuny. As suggested by the exhibition's name, the black harmony of the haute couture alchemist is captured within this display as it commemorates the incredible tailoring of the Spanish designer.

The Musée Bourdelle is located on Rue Antoine Bourdelle, a quiet street not far from the city center. Despite it's convenient location, the museum is very tranquil and delicate compared to the bustling streets outside. On entering the first room of the exhibition I was quite overwhelmed. Although the layout was simple it was extremely appealing resonating the extreme talent of the designer. The first room drew on the classicism, simplicity and expertise of Cristobel Balenciaga. Six black garments were in mid construction within this room emphasising the precision of the cut and the shade black that Balenciaga favoured in order to speak volume with regards to the fabric and style. These garments displayed the simplicity of some of Balenciaga's design's as they focused solely on the tailoring, design process and the final garment in relation to shape and style, however were innovative and original due to the approach taken. The dress displayed the first discipline Balenciaga would apply to his work, the 'canvas' stage. The fabric was manipulated over and over until Balenciaga was satisfied with what he had produced as his first draft. The display was raw and honest as Balenciaga's original notes had been left on the material. The designer had expressed his desires onto the garment itself allowing the viewer to read his thought process. I particularly favoured the two designs at the end of the room displayed on black plinths stretching 10 foot high. The layout of these two creations in particular showed the importance of the garment's, and Balenciaga's influence and impression he left on the fashion industry.

Among the designs of Balenciaga the sculptures of Antoine ​Bourdelle were displayed. The black designs of Balenciaga and the white sculptures of Bourdelle complimented one another beautifully. The pair drew upon the classicism of both sculpture and fashion. The sculptures echo those of Ancient Greece and Balenciaga's designs are elegant, they together bring out one another's timelessness. The purity of the sculptural effect is mirrored within Antoine's work. The grander of the dress designs were emphasised by the sculptures they were displayed alongside as the sculpture's subjects depict ancient impressive Greek and Roman mythology.

Further into the exhibition lay a more modest room displaying three black day dresses from 1940 and 1960. The dresses were produced from either wool or silk. The dress styles ranged from a cinched waist to a shift silhouette, one dress fashioned a pouf hiver. Although the dresses initially seem very simple, the use of black forces us to engage with the style of the dress, appreciating the contrast between each dresses' cut and style. The skills of the tailor resonates within this room showing how flexible sticking to one shade can be. The exhibition reinforces how Balenciaga's attraction to black compelled him to experiment with other elements of the dress' design which were not colour.

Although Balenciaga's drafts can be seen within the garments themselves which he wrote on, his original sketches are displayed within the exhibition as an entire corridor was dedicated to his dress designs. Within his sketches it is clear how Balenciaga would work with the female form to emphasise the fit, cut and shape he desired for his garments. Tiny waists and voluptuous hips are marked in pencil, the designs are embellished with buttons and what could be either beads or gems. It is obvious how Balenciaga was concerned with the shape and style of his designs as he experiments with a range of shapes either emphasising the waist or using ruffles for instance at the top of a dress. The talent of Balenciaga was reflected through these sketches as it was obvious how important a unique style was to him, this reinforced by the reduction of colour. The exhibition concentrated of the designer's desire to experiment with the tailoring of a garment. Balenciaga has stuck fabrics such as lace to a handful of his sketches, exploring with textures and materials allowing us to understand his initial ideas in depth. I particularly liked the placement of one of his sketches of a coat adorned with fur next to a model wearing the garment we see in the sketch as the photograph alongside the sketch brings the garment to life.

Following on from the corridor of sketches was the most magnificent basement room. The room was entirely black with a few black sculptures scattered around, every aspect of the room married another perfectly. Balenciaga's most admirable pieces stood within this room, the most breathtaking was his 1949 'Dress in Two Parts'. The gown has a bandeau top, a cinched waist with a doubled layered skirt and was floor length. Balenciaga's talent was presented through this dress alone as it was embellished from head to toe with black sequins and beads placed purposely in swirl patterns. The design stuck to the black colour theme however the sequins caused the dress to dazzle as the light caught each individual bead as though the garment itself was shining. Balenciaga's technique of using black to create light is inherent of Spanish artistic expressionism. The two varieties of black are consistent within Balenciaga's work however this room displayed the varieties with the most obvious contrast between the two; niger, (brilliant black) and ater (matt black) both words derived from Latin. Balenciaga applied both niger and ater black to his 'Dress in two parts' as the dress would reveal it's quality within the light when the sequins and beads would be 'set on fire by the light'.

The final room within the exhibition was alluring as Balenciaga introduced colour into his work, something that was yet to be seen within the exhibition. Pink was Balenciaga's chosen colour to subtly incorporate within his work as he saw it to promote either tender or violent chords against his black garments. Delicately applied, the dresses within the final room displayed pink mostly through embellishments or decoration. There was one exception, the 1952 evening gown was produced from white silk with an over layer of black lace providing a pink illusion. The use of pink drew our eyes to the details of the dresses accentuating the skill that had gone into the production of the garment. Bead details in particularly conveyed this when produced in pink as this was the most time consuming laborious segment of the garment. In terms of the pink used to elaborate on tender or violent chords, the 1963 winter evening gown bought out the violent chord as the pink beaded neckline and cuffs has a rough texture and is quite a daring piece due to the hundreds of miniature round beads. In comparison to this, Balenciaga's 1967 dress complete with a milky pink silk bow emphasises the tender chord as the pink silk is incredibly soft, the bow is very feminine and almost child like.

The Balenciaga exhibition is unique in the sense it concentrates primarily on the skill and individuality of the artist and how he pursued such a fabulous fashion line through his perspective of style. Black being the key theme within the exhibition made the talent of Balenciaga obvious. Balenciaga was able to disregard such an enormous element of design from his work (colour) and concentrate purely on shape, tailoring his designs to the female body, but experimenting with innovative silhouettes. The decision to display fashion and sculpture side by side emphasises the similarity between the two disciplines as they transform a material into an artistic form. The exhibition has done a brilliant job of conveying the designer's talent and unprecedented thought process, producing a fabulous range of exclusive garments.

The exhibition is on display from 8th March 2017 - 16th July 2017 and can be found at the Musée Bourdelle, Rue Antoine Bourdelle, Paris. Full priced tickets cost 12 Euros and reduced rate tickets cost 9 Euros.