Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Rene Gruau









Born in Italy in 1909, settled in Paris in 1924 and embarked on his career as a fashion illustrator. He has worked for the greatest names in Haute Couture such as Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Givenchy, Rochas and Elle.
According to René Gruau, "Elegance is fluid and therefore by definition difficult to define, but it is made of desire and knowledge, of grace, refinement, perfection and distinction". With admirably economical means and perfect purity of line, René Gruau expresses and suggests every nuance of luxury and refinement.From 1935 to 1939, he worked with FEMINA, MARIE-CLAIRE, L'OFFICIEL, L'ALBUM DU FIGARO and other magazines.
In 1946, he did his first job for INTERNATIONAL TEXTILES, whose covers he designed until 1984. Later his friend Christian DIOR entrusted him with drawing the MISS DIOR advertisement and the famous Bar dress. the New Look was born.
In 1948, he left for the United States to work for HARPER'S BAZAAR and VOGUE, before becoming the exclusive artist for FLAIR.
In 1949, he devoted his time to advertising: ROUGE BAISER, LIDO, MOULIN ROUGE, BEMBERG, BLIZZAND.
Between 1950 and now, he has worked for the greatest names in Haute Couture:
According to René GRUAU, "Elegance is fluid and therefore by definition difficult to define, but it is made of desire and knowledge, of grace, refinement, perfection and distinction".
Following in the footsteps of Toulouse-Lautrec in the 19th century, for forty years, René GRUAU was responsible for creating the image of the great cabaret shows of the 20th century.
René GRUAU often uses humour based on idleness to illustrate his drawings; this is no reflection on his personal life. He has toiled tirelessly for seventy years and his work comprises more than 80 000 illustrations.
René GRUAU astounds us simply by the immensity of his work, his modernity, his simplicity and his utter elegance which have resulted in the GRUAU "SIGNATURE".
With his stunning, passionate, figures, his arresting use of color and dramatic, explosive element of line, Rene Gruau developed his distinctive “New Look” in the 1940’s which greatly impacted haute couture, theatre, art, and commercial design. With his trademark use of his powerful minimal line, Gruau’s style combined seductive sophistication with classic beauty, grace and sensual elegance.
Today Gruau’s works are collected and exhibited by the finest art institutions including the Louvre in Paris. Rene Gruau’s artistic passion, intensity and technical brilliance have left a high-water mark on art history.





http://www.americanfineartgallery.com/artists/gruau/gruau_bio.html
http://www.renegruau.com/index.php
 http://www.woodmansterne.co.uk/rene.htm



2 comments:

  1. a lot of research here joanna good work

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  2. nice work i like the this guys work hahaha

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