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Indepth Arts News:
"Adrian's Camelot: Work by a Legendary American Designer"
2001-12-22 until 2002-05-26
Museum of the City of New York
New York, NY,
USA United States of America
The work of legendary American designer Adrian (1903-1959) exemplifies glamour
and decorative fluidity. The Museum of the City of New York presents Adrian's Camelot, a sampling of thirty-five of the watercolor/gouache and pencil costume renderings created by Adrian for the 1960 Broadway production of Camelot.
Given to the Museum in 1961 by Adrian's widow Janet Gaynor, the drawings on display in Adrian's Camelot, which exemplify his confident style, have never
before appeared together in one focused exhibition. As Adrian's final
project, these designs were intended for the 1960 production, but were not
realized in his lifetime. Following his death in 1959, Adrian's associate,
Tony Duquette, developed the concepts into the costumes worn by Julie Andrews
and Robert Goulet in the famed theatrical production.
Born in Connecticut and a graduate of the New York School for Applied and Fine
Arts, Adrian was renowned as one of the top costume designers in Hollywood in
the mid twentieth century. He arrived in Hollywood in 1923 to make clothes
for Rudolph Valentino, then worked for Cecil B. DeMille from 1924 to 1928.
Hired as the chief costume designer for MGM in 1928, Adrian helped formulate the MGM look for such stars as Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, and Joan Crawford.
His designs for Crawford became her visual trademark - wide, padded shoulders
with a tapered waist. In addition to his work with these stars, Adrian
designed costumes for such films as The Wizard of Oz and
The Philadelphia Story. This installation at the Museum of the City of New York celebrates Adrian and his final work as the quintessence of American
design and sophistication.
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