Norman Hartnell Painting
British Art Nouveau Costume Design

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Hartnell Revue
Hartnell Revue Hartnell Revue
Hartnell Revue
Norman Hartnell (1901-1979)
Design for Revue
British: 20th Century
Gouache on paper
Signed lower right: HARTNELL
Signed verso backing sheet in artist’s hand: N.B. Hartnell, 91 Warrington Crescent, W.9.
Inscribed verso backing sheet in another hand: Revue 1918
18 x 13 inches overall
Sold, please inquire as to the availability of similar items.

Costume design by the famous British designer Sir Norman Hartnell, showing a woman in a flamboyant feather-trimmed dress of black, pink and silver, patterned in a style reminiscent of the Art Nouveau paintings of Gustav Klimt. 

Sir Norman Hartnell was a leading British fashion designer of his era, serving as official dressmaker to three generations of the British royal family from 1938.  In that capacity, he designed gowns for the late Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and other members of the aristocracy.  In 1947, he designed the future Queen Elizabeth II’s wedding gown and in 1953 he designed her spectacular coronation dress and those of her entourage.  Other clients included the actresses Marlene Dietrich, Elizabeth Taylor, Tallulah Bankhead and Vivien Leigh.  Hartnell’s career began in his student days at Cambridge University, where he was active designing for theatre.  He continued his training at London fashion houses, setting up his own business in 1923 and presenting his first collection in Paris in 1927.  Although perhaps best known for dressing the elite, he also produced ready-to-wear collections for department stores from 1942, and designed uniforms for the British Red Cross, Women’s Royal Army Corps and female British Police Force officers during World War II.  Britain honored Hartnell’s achievements by making him the first fashion designer to receive knighthood in 1977, and in 2005 an English Heritage Blue Plaque was placed at the Bruton Street building where he lived and worked from 1935 to 1979.

Note: Subsequent to the preparation of the above description by the George Glazer Gallery, this work was selected by Michael Pick and published and described in his book Be Dazzled: Norman Hartnell: Sixty Years of Glamour and Fashion (2007).  His analysis augments our description.

References:

Cole, Shaun.  “Sir Norman Hartnell.” GLBTQ.com.  2002.  http://www.glbtq.com/arts/hartnell_n.html (24 May 2005).

Pick, Michael. Be Dazzled: Norman Hartnell: Sixty Years of Glamour and Fashion. New York: Pointed Leaf Press, 2007.

Skiller, Dolly.  “Designer to the Queen Honored Posthumously.”  Fashion Gates.com.  13 May 2005. http://www.fashiongates.com/magazine/Norman-Hratnell-13-05-2005-65051.html (24 May 2005).