New Exhibit Showcases Art Deco Fashion Illustration, Canadian Costume Designs, and Fashion Plates from the Library’s Special Collections
TORONTO (Friday, October 11, 2013) - Toronto Public Library is pleased to announce a new exhibition in the TD Gallery, located on the main floor of the Toronto Reference Library. The Gilded Age of Fashion: 1890-1914 opens on Saturday, October 19, 2013 at 9 a.m. and runs until January 5, 2014.
Featuring rare and unique items from the library’s Special Collections, The Gilded Age of Fashion will explore a period when the famous Parisian fashion houses firmly established tailors and dressmakers as couturiers. At this time, Paul Poiret was crowned “The King of Fashion”. His avant-garde designs sparkle in the Art Deco illustrations of Georges Lepape.
Fashion plates from ladies magazines show how the Parisian styles were copied and constructed into ready-made local fashions. The new craze for cycling and the automobile created needs for a new kind of apparel.
Now immortalized in film, television and the stage, original Canadian theatre costume designs will complement the original designs in the exhibit.
What: The Gilded Age of Fashion: 1890-1914
When: October 19 until January 5, 2014
Where: TD Gallery, Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street – Main Level
Hours: Monday to Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Exhibit Highlights:
- Limited edition albums of hand-coloured fashion plates by George Barbier, Georges Lepape, and Paul Iribe. All three artists were masters of the pochoir technique, which involves the use of stencils to build up layers of vivid colour.
- Fashion designs from the leading fashion houses of Paris: Paul Poiret, Jeanne Paquin, Charles Frederick Worth, Madeleine Chériut, and John Redfern.
- Original costume designs of Canadian stage productions by George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest, Pygmalion, Heartbreak House, Mrs. Warren’s Profession and others.
- Design sketches from the portfolios of David Boechler, Hillary Corbett, Maxine Graham, Debra Hanson, Desmond Heeley, Clare Jeffery, and Cameron Porteous.
- Costumes from the latest production of Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde, designed by William Schmuck, Design Director at the Shaw Festival.
- Fashion plates from the era’s French, British, American and Canadian ladies’ magazines.
- The iconic Gibson Girl, made famous by Charles Dana Gibson illustrator for Collier’s and Life magazines.
About the TD Gallery in the Toronto Reference Library:
The TD Gallery is the portal to discovering Toronto Public Library’s Special Collections documenting the cultural history of our nation. These heritage collections include books, manuscripts, art and artifacts collected by the library since its inception in 1884, available to everyone for viewing, during regular library hours, or online 24/7.
Media pre-opening tour:
Members of the media are invited for pre-opening tour and to meet the curator team between 2 and 4 pm on Thursday, October 17, 2013. Please contact Edward Karek at 416-397-5925 or ekarek@torontopubliclibrary.ca to reserve a spot.
Related Programming:
Designing for Shaw
Cameron Porteous, former Head of Design at the Shaw Festival Theatre, gives a behind-the scenes look at designing costumes for the Canadian stage.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013 at 2:00 p.m.
Toronto Reference Library
Elizabeth Beeton Auditorium
Vintage Fashion: Reliving the Gilded Age
Fashion History Productions presents a fashion show with models in period dress from turn-of-the-century Canada. Highlights of the show are summer party dresses from the Downton Abbey era.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013 at 7:00 p.m.
Toronto Reference Library
Atrium, Main Floor
Exhibit Tours:
Four special curator tours which are open to the public will be held on Thursday November 7 and Thursday November 14 at 2 p.m. Interested library customers should meet in front of the gallery. There will also be curator tours held on Tuesday November 26 and Wednesday November 27 after the related gallery programs.
Toronto Public Library is one of the world's busiest urban public library systems. Every year, 19 million people visit our branches in neighbourhoods across the city and borrow 32 million items. To learn more about Toronto Public Library, visit our website at torontopubliclibrary.ca or call Answerline at 416-393-7131. To get the most current updates on what's happening at the library, follow us on Twitter @torontolibrary.
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Media Contact/Media Image Reproduction:
Edward Karek, Communications Officer
416-397-5925