By Condé Nast Archive
By Ivan Shaw
Model in a Short Black Strapless Ballgown, Vogue (1951-03-01) by Cecil BeatonCondé Nast Archive
One of the most legendary stories in Vogue is remembered as much for what was hanging behind the model—one of Jackson Pollock’s splatter paintings—as for what the model was wearing.
Photographer Cecil Beaton used an exhibition of paintings by the abstract expressionist as the backdrop for a story on ball gowns for the March 1, 1951 issue.
Model in a Blue Strapless Ballgown by Irene, Vogue (1951-03-01) by Cecil BeatonCondé Nast Archive
When these pictures were taken, Pollock was nearing the high point of his short but enormously influential career and Vogue was celebrating the post-war economic boom and the beginnings of Eisenhower-era glamour.
The juxtaposition of traditional, super feminine ball gowns with iconoclastic avant-garde painting proved the perfect balance of art and fashion.
Mdel in a PInk Sophie Ballgown Pictured in Front of a Jackson Pollock Painting, Vogue (1951-03-01) by Cecil BeatonCondé Nast Archive
Pollock’s splashes of paint made the gowns feel ultra-modern; in return, the gowns' heightened the exciting newness of the paintings while giving them an establishment imprimatur.
Vogue had already put its weight behind the modernist movement a few years before, happily cheering on New York’s youthful Museum of Modern Art.
The cover of the July 1945 issue, offering “Vogue’s Eye View of the Museum of Modern Art,” featured an image taken at the midtown institution by Erwin Blumenfeld.
Inside the magazine, John Rawlings shot a portfolio of fashion and large-scale sculptures.
Vogue editor Allene Talmey recounted the history of the museum and declared MoMA to be “the most colossally energetic, ‘desperately important’ sprawling force in exhibiting modern work.”
In the 1960’s, Vogue extolled the virtues of art as an essential part of a fashionable life. Horst P. Horst, a contributor to the magazine for over 50 years, was often assigned to document magnificent homes that held museum-quality art collections.
Cy and Tatiana Twombly at Home, Vogue (1966-11-15) by Horst P. HorstCondé Nast Archive
Sometimes Horst even shot artists’ abodes as well. Particularly notable are the photographs he took of Cy Twombly’s Roman lair.
Closer to home was the shoot Horst did of the New York loft of sculptor Peter Reginato and his then wife Sue Ann for the January 1, 1969 issue of Vogue.
In two pages, Horst was able to capture art, fashion, and an ultra-hip lifestyle—the dream of an artist’s life in the big city.
In the 21st century, Vogue continues the tradition of placing fashion within a larger cultural context even as designers explore collaborations with fine artists, further shortening the distance between the painter’s canvas, and the couturier’s toile.
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