L'étoffe de l'artiste. De Rosa Bonheur à Sonia Delaunay

Following the rediscovery of Antoine Bourdelle’s clothing in 2020, the Musée Bourdelle explores, in a new exhibition, the representations and staging strategies of artists through their clothes, from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century. The route of “L’étoffe de l’artiste” is punctuated by little-known garments worn by emblematic or more obscure figures, men and women alike – notably Gustav Klimt, Rosa Bonheur, Foujita, Sonia Delaunay, Camille Bernier – in dialogue with paintings, sculptures, graphic arts and photographs.

At the end of the 19th century, while many artists wore everyday street clothes, some asserted themselves through more elegant outfits, while others appeared in smocks, overalls or boiler suits, embodying a new ideal of the artist at work.

Dress codes soon multiplied, in the wake of a movement towards individual distinction.

At the turn of the 20th century, clothing alternately became a revolutionary manifesto, an extension of the creative act, or even an assertion of identity: gender fluidity and games of cross-dressing, quests for real or imagined elsewheres, belonging or marginality… Artists carefully composed their own outfits and drew recognisable silhouettes for posterity.

While artists' relationship to clothing has already been explored (notably in the exhibition S’habiller en artiste.

L’artiste et le vêtement at the Louvre Lens in 2025), L’étoffe de l’artiste takes an innovative approach, at the crossroads of art history, sociology and the history of fashion.

For the first time, more than 50 textile pieces, accessories and objects worn by artists have been brought together, thanks to long research carried out by the curators in the collections and archives of institutions and private collections.

These unique pieces are displayed alongside 50 photographs, 33 paintings, 12 drawings and 9 sculptures in a chrono-thematic route, to capture the styles, looks and staging that immediately identify them as artists.

Particular attention has been paid to the diversity of the artists represented, with nearly a quarter of women artists on display.