A Lady Walking in a Garden with a Child (detail) , about 1785, Thomas Gainsborough; black chalk with stumping, heightened with white pastel. The J. Paul Getty Museum

Art of the Fold: Drawings of Drapery and Costume

GETTY CENTER

West Pavilion, Plaza Level



This exhibition of drawings from the permanent collection surveys how studies of drapery and costume offer more than naturalistic representations of material. In drawings of soldiers, peasants, nobles, and foreigners, clothing served as a primary indicator of social standing and class. In designs made for the theater, costume could embellish or even mask identity. With their focus on the relationship between the body and cloth, these drawn studies evoke moods, shape character, and tell stories.


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