About Style Imitating Art…
Style Imitating Art comes from Salazar, Terri, and Shelbee. Please make sure you visit each blog to see their SIA looks. You can think of it as fashion meets art museum! Style Imitating Art challenges people to find inspiration in different art works, create looks based upon that art work, and share them with the curator for that piece. Every other Monday one of the three selects an inspiration piece of art and posts the image on their blog. They then invite others to interpret that art work through their style. The following Monday, they share their outfits. The curator shares submissions the following Wednesday on her blog. Salazar chose this week’s art work. You can see a few of my looks here, here, here, and here!
Inspiration art work…
About the art work…
“The Guitar 1914” is a still life painted in the synthetic cubist style. I say that as if I truly understand what it is!!! Hahaha! It also uses gouache which I cannot for the life of me understand. The reason that even resonated with me is that Talbots had a dress and skirt called gouache years ago! I always wanted that skirt and even now check eBay for it! But, I digress! This piece of art is in a private collection. I wasn’t able to find much information about this exact painting; however, Juan Gris painted many guitars over his career.
About the artist…
The artist was born José Victoriano González-Pérez on March 23, 1887 in Madrid, Spain. He studied engineering at the Madrid School of Arts and Sciences. In 1905, he became Juan Gris. In 1906, Gris relocated to Paris where he met up with Guillaume Apollinaire, a French poet, and Henri Matisse as well as Jean Metzinger and Pablo Picasso. Prior to 1911, Gris created dark, satiric cartoons for different journals. It was in 1911 that Gris committed to becoming a full-time artist. He is recognized as one of the foremost artists in the Cubist movement.
A little more…
Juan Gris initially used his mechanical and mathematical background to create art in the analytical style of cubism. Analytic cubism is the deconstruction of the subject and recreating it from various viewpoints. In addition, artists used sharp angles and muted colors as they overlapped planes to create a new work. Gris differed from his compatriots by the use of brilliant colors rather than the monochromatic choices they made. By 1912, Gris was utilizing synthetic cubism to create his works Synthetic cubism involves the use of textures and patterns with the possible addition of collages. The resulting work was supposed to be a flattened out piece of art. As I look at the examples, though, it seems to be just the opposite. I see much more dimension in the examples of synthetic cubism. You can see for yourself here.
Still more…
Gris was a bit of a going against the grain kind of guy to my mind! He married Lucie Belin in 1909. She bore his only child, Georges, that same year. In 1912, Gris met Charlotte Augusta Fernande Herpin also known as Josette. Wikipedia says “they” lived together from 1913 or 1914 until 1922 at Bateau Lavoir. I’m not sure if “they” were just Gris and Josette or Gris, Josette, and Lucie. Josette is known as Gris’ second companion and unofficial wife. Gris’ health began to deteriorate in 1925. He was known to have heart problems. He died on May 11, 1927 at the age of 40. I could not find any information about the number of art works he produced in his lifetime. One last bit of trivia…Gertrude Stein (she of “a rose is a rose is a rose is a rose” fame) once said of Gris, he “was the one person that Picasso would have willingly wiped off the map.” Now, wouldn’t that be the perfect epitaph!
My interpretation…
This is not the first time this dress has appeared on the blog. But, as soon as I saw the styling prompt, my mind went to this dress. As I stated in that post, this dress reads as brown, but it’s actually a very deep aubergine color. The embroidery on the bodice and around the hem echoes the brocade of the print behind the guitar. You can’t really tell, but the tights have an almost corduroy texture to them which duplicates the textures in the art work. And, of course, there are the florals! While I didn’t come up with a literal interpretation, I think I got the feel of it. I also discovered brown tights definitely look better with this dress than the original leggings I’d worn with it.
The Lewk!
Since the bodice of this dress is so heavily embroidered, I rarely wear a necklace with it. But, I did go for the gold! I pulled out these three bracelets from Banana Republic. I remember getting a postcard advertising the upcoming holiday season. We still lived in Columbia City at that point so these are at least eight years old! The earrings are real gold and were a Christmas gift from Nigel. He bought them at LS Ayres so, once again, they are very old! These are another pair of Indigo by Clarks shoes. I also have them in a very nice olive green. I like the way the brown tights combine with the shoes to give the illusion of me wearing boots (almost).
Wrap it up, Marsha!
I’m going to admit something right now. Every time I get a styling challenge, I try really hard not to use April Cornell! But, it seems almost every time, that’s what I end up wearing! See how versatile the clothing is! So, can we talk? Are you a fan of cubism, analytic or synthetic? Do you think synthetic cubism is one dimensional, or do you agree with me and actually see three dimensions? Please leave a comment or two, and we can talk! I promise to get back to you as soon as possible! Also, the link party for Songful Style is still open! Please link your favorite posts if you’d like!
Affiliate links and such:
Just a reminder that Marsha in the Middle may use an affiliate link. Those links are usually italicized. If you click or make a purchase from an italicized link I provide, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support. I recently became a Brand Ambassador for Sarah Flint shoes. You can use SARAHFLINT-BAMARSHA for $50 off your first pair. As of right now, I also have an affiliate code for Kantha Bae! Use MarshaintheMiddle in the promo code box for $5 off any order (excluding Bestie restocks)! I have also become a Halftee Partner. Use the code, MARSHA2098, for 20% off any purchase. In case you didn’t know, bloggers must disclose the use of affiliate links. That’s why I include this in each post.
Thank you!
I so very much appreciate each and every one of you! Thank you for reading, commenting, and emailing! It makes my day to hear from you! If you’d like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me here.
Where you can find me:
Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style, My Bijou LIfe, Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez Mireile, The Grey Brunette, and Away from the Blue. I also link up with This Blonde’s Shopping Bag, Doused in Pink, Being a Wordsmith, and Mummabstylish. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs! I’m a co-host on the Weekend Traffic Jam (here). I also am a co-host for Ageless Style on the third Thursday of the month and Songful Style on the last Monday of the month. I also host Final Friday Print Mixing on the last Friday of the month. I do hope you’ll check out all of these blogs and link parties!
You did great with the challenge! The dress is beautiful.
xoxo
Lovely
http://www.mynameislovely.com
Thank you so much, Lovely! I really appreciate it!
That is a perfect inspiration piece for fall with so many pretty shades of brown and the hint of textures. You did a great job bringing it to life.
Thanks so much, Joanne! I was pretty happy with how it turned out!
I adore this dress! The print and colors are perfect for this art and for the season!
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
Thanks, Kathrine! I knew exactly what to wear for this challenge! The tights, though, were a happy accident!
That’s an interesting interpretation of the artists work. I love the floral so much! Have a great week and happy November.
https://www.bauchlefashion.com/2022/10/black-turtlenecks-are-cult-favourite.html?spref=pi&m=1
Thanks so much, Heather! Happy November to you, too!! I hope your week is going well!
Your dress is perfect to go along with the art! My goodness, you have quite the collection of pieces because you always nail it Marsha! So impressed and I love the shy look – eyes not closed of course!
xo,
Kellyann
Hahaha!!! It’s funny because I am extremely shy, but most people don’t believe it. My mom always introduced me to new people as, “This is Marsha; she’s shy” to the point I almost thought shy was my middle name! Around the age of 11, I decided I wasn’t going to be shy anymore. Now, it’s not as easy as that, of course. I will always be the wallflower in the room if I don’t know anyone. But, I’m also so glad to have finally figured out I’m actually an extroverted introvert. Give me a room full of people, and I can talk to them for hours without any problems! Weird, right?
Anyway, I do have a huge collection of April Cornell pieces because I’ve been collecting them for at least twenty years. I have donated a few for different reasons hoping someone will love them as I did.
Thanks for coming by, Kellyann!
Gorgeous fall florals can’t go wrong! The brown tights and shoes look great and work well with the dress (I am always interested in how people do the dress/skirt + tights + shoes/boots thing because that’s so necessary for me in winter). The deep aubergine color looks like a very dark, almost black shade of brown to me so I could see using either brown or black for accessorizing. Of course I love how the details of your outfit match up with elements of the painting…like the embroidery/brocade and the texture of the tights!
Thanks, Sally! I had already decided to wear the textured tights when I noticed how they reflected the lines in the painting. I wear tights in the winter all of the time. I’ve been reading that if you wear a slip, your dress or skirt won’t ride up. So, I’ll definitely be giving that a try! I will definitely go trying black with this dress, too. It is one of my favorites ever!
I think this dress hit the inspiration photo perfectly Marsha. Maybe you could say that April’s dresses are really a work of art since they seem to be part of the SIA??
XOOX
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Thanks, Jodie! Well, a lot of the prints on the dresses are either directly taken from April’s sketches or are inspired by them! So, I guess that does make them works of art! All I know is I love them! Just wait til the Christmas season!
This is such a beautifully put together outfit! Love the colours.
Gemma x
http://www.jacquardflower.uk
Thank you so much, Gemma!
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Marsha, what a fabulous dress! It really is perfect for this painting! I love the color, the print, and the beautiful trim. April Cornell really does seem to have a way with SIA! Haha. As much as I love learning about the art and the artists, I often don’t understand the different art theories and movements I encounter in this series! But I sure do enjoy trying to understand it all! You look gorgeous, my friend! Well done on this challenge.
Shelbee
Thanks so much, Shelbee! I think that is my favorite part of these challenges…learning about new artists, media, and techniques! I wish I could say I was an artist, but alas and alack, I am not!
And, I love this dress so I was so glad it fit the challenge as well as it did!
I love your April Cornell pieces! Please don’t ever hesitate to use them. This is a gorgeous outfit and works very well for the theme. Beautiful!
Michelle
https://funkyfashionstyle.com
Thanks, Michelle! I challenge myself now to not use them, but they just always work so well!
You nailed it! The different browns and your floral dress really echo the artwork!
Thanks, Laura! I was really pleased with it!
I think you rocked this! The print and those chocolate tones are perfect!
-Ashley
Thanks, Ashley! I love this dress!
You nailed the look! Your dress is gorgeous! Love the colors and print!
Jill – Doused in Pink
Thanks so much, Jill! It’s a favorite of mine!
I love the dress and the fact that it matches the season. 🙂
Annie,
Annies Food Diary
Thanks so much, Annie! I really like this dress with all of the details, and it is really comfortable, too!
I am in love with the shoes!
Thanks and keep sharing great content.
Diana
http://www.hijab-style.com
Aren’t they great? And, they’re so comfortable!
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