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Photographs of the Countess Greffulhe

By The Museum at FIT
In Photograph
Tagged with 1887 1896 Countess Greffulhe lily Nadar Otto Worth
On 28 Oct | '2016

La comtesse Greffulhe, nÈe Elisabeth de Caraman-Chimay (1860-1952), portant la robe aux lis crÈÈe pour elle par la maison Worth

In this photograph by Paul Nadar, the Countess Greffulhe wears her famous Lily Dress, attributed to the House of Worth, 1896. She studied photography with Nadar and collaborated with him on at least two versions of this photograph, posing in front of a full-length mirror. Long a symbol of female vanity, the mirror can also be compared to a photograph. As Robert de Montesquiou once said, “A photograph is a mirror that remembers.”

Photograph by Paul Nadar.
Palais Galleria, Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris.
© Eric Emo/Galliera/Roger-Viollet.

La Comtesse Greffuhle dans une robe de bal

The Countess Élisabeth Greffulhe in a ballgown, circa 1887.

Exposed to the crowd at the opera, the Countess Greffulhe experienced a feeling of triumph. As she once wrote to Robert de Montesquiou, “I don’t think that there is any pleasure in the world comparable to that of a woman who feels that she is being looked at by everybody. . . . How can one live when one can no longer provoke this great anonymous caress, after having known and tasted it?” Photography was another way of presenting herself to the gaze of others.

Photograph by Otto Wegener.
Palais Galliera, Musée de la mode de la Ville de Paris.
© Otto/Galliera/Roger-Viollet.
© Eric Emo/Galliera/Roger-Viollet.

Portrait de la comtesse Elisabeth Greffulhe

The Countess Greffulhe wearing an evening coat, circa 1887.

In this photograph, The Countess Greffulhe poses almost completely concealed by a voluminous evening cape, perhaps the same chinchilla cape that she loaned to Robert de Montesquiou for his portrait by Whistler. She later complained that the cape was never returned by his companion, Yturri.

Photograph by Otto Wegener.
Palais Galleria, Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris.
© Otto/Galliera/Roger-Viollet.

This exhibition was developed by the Palais Galliera, Fashion Museum of the City of Paris, Paris Musées.

Proust’s Muse, The Countess Greffulhe runs through January 7, 2016 at The Museum at FIT in NYC.

Worth “Lily Dress”

By The Museum at FIT
In Objects
Tagged with 1896 dress installation lily velvet Worth
On 20 Oct | '2016

L: © L. Degrâces et Ph. Joffre / Galliera / Roger-Viollet
R: Photo by Eileen Costa. © 2016 The Museum at FIT

L: Photo by Eileen Costa. © 2016 The Museum at FIT
R: Photograph © Zach Hilty/BFA.com

The Countess Greffulhe patronized the greatest couturiers of her time, but she was often the real creator of her dresses. This is certainly true of the famous “lily dress.” It has a princess line that was atypical for the period, but very flattering to her tall, slender figure, and the Bertha collar resembled bat wings, alluding to Robert de Montesquiou’s personal symbol, the bat. Finally, the motif of fleurs de lys refers to a verse he composed in her honor: “Like a beautiful silver lily with black pistil eyes.” She had herself photographed by Paul Nadar, wearing this dress and posing in front of a mirror.

Robert de Montesquiou by Boldini, 1896.
Musée d’Orsay, Paris

“Her dresses, invented for her or by her, must resemble no one else’s,” observed the press, adding that she preferred to look “bizarre” rather than “banal.” The writer Edmund de Goncourt admired her “supreme aristocratic and artistic elegance,” but he also once described the Countess Greffulhe as “a distinguished eccentric,” adding that she reminded him of a “female version” of Count Robert de Montesquiou.

Proust’s Muse, The Countess Greffulhe runs through January 7, 2016 at The Museum at FIT in NYC.

Worth
Evening gown, known as “La Robe aux Lis” (the lily dress), circa 1896, altered later
Black silk velvet, ivory silk satin appliqués in the form of lilies embroidered with metal sequins and glass pearls; modern collar
GAL1978.20.1, gift of the duc de Gramont to the Musée Galliera

This exhibition was developed by the Palais Galliera, Fashion Museum of the City of Paris, Paris Musées.

Worth Evening Cape

By The Museum at FIT
In Objects
Tagged with 1896 cape installation silk Worth
On 13 Oct | '2016

© Patrick Pierrain / Galliera / Roger-Viollet

Photo by Eileen Costa. © 2016 The Museum at FIT

During his visit to Paris in 1896, Tsar Nicolas II of Russia gave the Countess Greffulhe a rich court robe called a khalat from Boukhara (in present-day Uzbekistan, but then part of the Russian Empire). She had it transformed into an evening cape by Jean-Philippe Worth, and was photographed wearing it by Otto Wegener. Eight years later, she had the cape altered slightly in conformance with contemporary fashion, creating a sensation when she wore “her great Russian cape of cloth of gold” to a gala benefiting wounded Russian soldiers.

Proust’s Muse, The Countess Greffulhe runs through January 7, 2016 at The Museum at FIT in NYC.

Worth
Evening cape, known as the “Russian cape,” circa 1896, altered 1904
Embroidered maroon silk velvet with a roseate pattern, metal yarn, machine lace, braid with multi-colored silk thread, gold lamé taffeta, cotton tulle
GAL1980.189.16, gift of the duc de Gramont to the Palais Galliera

This exhibition was developed by the Palais Galliera, Fashion Museum of the City of Paris, Paris Musées.