Rediscovering Art by Women

Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973)

SHOCKING’ perfume bottle with glass domed case and pink cardboard box

, 1937

Catalogue essay by Sacha Llewellyn

In 1937, Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) asked Leonor Fini (1907-1996) to design a flacon for her new perfume. Fini’s presentation – a dressmaker’s dummy based on Mae West – was made up of no less than 20 separate parts – including tiny glass flowers made in Murano – and apparently it took 30 women to assemble it. ⁠The bottle was then housed in an elegant glass domed case with a pink velvet cushion and a delicate printed white lace pattern. ⁠The whole creation was packaged in a ‘shocking’ pink presentation box lined in ‘shocking’ pink satin. In her autobiography ‘Shocking Life’, Schiaparelli wrote: ‘The colour flashed in front of my eyes. Bright, impossible, impudent, becoming, life-giving, like all the light and the birds and the fish in the world put together, a color of China and Peru but not of the West-a shocking color, pure and undiluted’. ⁠Jean Paul Gauthier once said that his ‘Classique’ perfume torso bottle was inspired by his grandmother’s perfume – we can only assume what scent she used.

Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973)

Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) was a fashion designer from an Italian aristocratic background. She created the house of Schiaparelli in Paris in 1927, which she managed from the 1930s to the 1950s. Starting with knitwear, Schiaparelli's designs celebrated Surrealism and eccentric fashions. Her collections were famous for unconventional and artistic themes like the human body, insects, or trompe-l'œil, and for the use of bright colours like her "shocking pink". She famously collaborated with Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau. Along with Coco Chanel, her greatest rival, she is regarded as one of the most prominent European figures in fashion between the two World Wars. Her clients included the heiress Daisy Fellowes and actress Mae West. Leonor Fini (1907-1996) was an Argentinian born Italian surrealist painter, designer, illustrator, and author, known for her depictions of powerful and erotic women. Her first major exhibition was in 1936 in New York at Julian Levy Gallery. Fini was part of a pre-war generation of Parisian artists, and very important in the Surrealist movement though she is sometimes overlooked in favour of her male contemporaries. Fini never officially joined the Surrealist movement though she did show her work alongside other Surrealist artists. In 1943, Fini was included in Peggy Guggenheim's show Exhibition by 31 Women at the Art of This Century gallery in New York.

Artworks by the same artist

Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973)

SHOCKING’ perfume bottle with glass domed case and pink cardboard box

Latest Posts

Open

THIS WEEK IN RAW…we shine the light on four iconic photographers…

Thank you to @nationalportraitgallery, @benjamin.carteret @toujours.bizarre

Head to the RAW blog page now!

Open

Swipe right to see who inspired Marion Adnams’ “Emperor Moths/Thunder On the Left” (1963) now in the RAW COLLECTION!

In her autobiography, Adnams wrote “In September, I went to Venice. It was wonderful being in Venice, but there was nothing to draw. Or rather, it had all been done already. Venice herself was the finished article and, as such, I could do little with her” but upon seeing René Magritte’s The Voice of Space (La Voix des airs, 1931) held in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Venice, Adnams found herself inspired again: “In October, I painted the Emperor. Tho of these great moths cling to balls of blue glaze, floating in the sky above a landscape which was dark blue and purple with the threat of approaching storm”

#marionadnams #femalesurrealist #guggenheim #renemagritte #rawcollection #rediscoveringartbywomen #surrealistpainting #emperormoth #raw

Open

A few ⭐️HIGHLIGHTS⭐️ by some of the women photographers in ´CHRONORAMA; Photographic Treasures of the 20th Century' - the brilliant new show at @palazzo_grassi - a journey through the 20th century through the @condenastarchive

⭐️ No magazines better documented and captured 20c high society than those owned by Condé Nast - which, over the decades, employed a number (albeit proportionately small) of women photographers.

⭐️ By 1920, Condé Nast was the leading international magazine publisher in the world, having launched British Vogue in 1916 and the French version four years later.

⭐️ Condé Nast's main readership was the world's elite in New York, Paris, and London who haunted the jazz clubs, the theaters, and the most prestigious parties and events.

⭐️ As well as documenting people, Condé Nast's magazines also reflected the most widespread trends in the arts and architecture throughout the century.

Swipe 👈🏽 for a few stand-out images:

1) Elisabetta Catalano - Helmut Berger (1970)
2) Ruth Harriet Louise - Greta Garbo, 1931
3) Berenice Abbott - James Joyce wearing an eye patch, 1926
4) Adelaide de Menil - Coco Chanel, Anouk Aimée and Marie Helene de Rothschild, 1966
5) Lisette Model - Family of Burlap Dolls, 1926

Open

One week left to see « Body Poetics » at @giantartgallery in Bournemouth, a group exhibition pairing nine feminist artists at the advent of feminist theory in the 1970s & 1980s!

« In xerography, these artists found freedom in the process; without requiring the labour of a photographer, they created confrontational and strangely compelling self-portraits. Commenting on the immediacy of the medium, and the intimacy between artist and machine, Slinger revellaking these ‘true self-portrait[s]’. Xerographic photocopying was widely introduced to the office space in the 1960’s, unpredictably openinto Slinger and Chadwick. Gibbens’ work testifies that the medium of xerography as a means of distorting the physical body is far from obsolete. By looking beyond the exhibition space, to the work of Denise Zygadlo, who was a friend and model of Chadwick’s, it becomes apparent that photocopying bodies continues to compel an extraordinary cohort of feminist artists. While xerography is just one strand of thematic links to be forged between, across and beyond the artist pairs in Body Poetics, I feel that this particular medium, and this curatorial approach, is a hugely intriguing way to dismantle potential intergenerational personal and political disconnect…»

Head over to RAW now to read the brilliant blog by @rachel.ashenden, co-founder of @thedebutante_, freelance arts writer and independent researcher specialising in the feminist avant-garde, and in particular, in Penny Slinger.

#bodypoetics #rawblog #feministart #giantartgallery #rediscoveringartbywomen #femaleartists #marginalisedartists #modernart #artbywomen

Open

I had such a magical ⭐️ evening talking on the panel to launch the brilliant exhibition of portraits of women writers by @susannedutoit2353 at @thelondonlibrary

It was a full house and the exhibition (swipe 👈🏼) looked stunning - it is on until July - and there is a beautiful catalogue published by @eiderdownbooks

Thank you to everyone - especially @hen_rodgers - for organizing the event 💓

#literaryfestival #womenportrait #womenwriters

Open

👋 COME AND SAY HI! ⁠👋
⁠
On Thursday, Sacha will be taking part in this ⭐️ super-special ⭐️ event to launch the @thelondonlibrary Lit Fest.

👀 View the exhibition of women writers by @susannedutoit2353 , have a drink 🥃 at the bar and then hear from Susanne's sitters (Sacha Llewellyn @rediscovering_art_by_women , Juliet Jacques and Dreda Say Mitchell) in conversation with fellow sitter @lara_feigel about artistic collaboration, what it is for a writer ✍️ to be the subject rather than the creator of a work of art and where writing and portraiture overlap. ⁠
⁠
There is a gorgeous catalogue 📕 about the project published by @eiderdownbooks
⁠
To purchase tickets 🎫 here is the link: https://www.londonlibrary.co.uk/whats-on/196-lit-fest-painting-women-writers-in-person-online?date=2023-04-27-18-30⁠
⁠
#literaryfestival #portraits #artexhibition #womenartists #artbywomen #artistsoninstagram

Open

“In the first of a new series Maudji Mendel explores the life, work and collectability of unsung female artists, starting with the pioneering photographer Madame Yevonde”

Thank you to @nationalportraitgallery & @antiquesmag for their help in putting this article together…

‘Life in Colour’ will open at the National Portrait Gallery in London on June 22nd!

Link in our story!

#madameyevonde #article #nationalportraitgallery #antiquecollectingmagazine #raw #rediscoveringartbywomen #rawblog #artbywomen #femalephotographer #yevonde #exhibition

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: Access Token is not valid or has expired. Feed will not update.

Keep up-to-date with the latest news & events at

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp’s privacy practices here.

Rediscovering Art by Women

Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973)

SHOCKING’ perfume bottle with glass domed case and pink cardboard box

Catalogue essay by Sacha Llewellyn

Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973)

Artworks by the same artist

SHOCKING’ perfume bottle with glass domed case and pink cardboard box

Latest Posts

Newsletter