Jan 23, 2014 - Sale 2337

Sale 2337 - Lot 157

Price Realized: $ 1,875
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
ANNA MARIA MAGAGNA.
Two fashion illustrations for Henri Bendel. Ink, marker, gouache, and pastel on paper. "The Long Rope of Pearls." Model: Susan Baraz. 305x273mm; 12x10 3/4 inches, image. Magagna's pencil and ink measurements in right margin (matted to show). 1970 * "I'm So Stylish / Edgy Style." Model: Erika Becker. 483x381mm; 19x15 inches, image. With paper collage detail and profuse hand work in wash by Magagna. 1973. Both Signed by Magagna in ink. Both tipped to archival mats and stylishly framed to 635x533mm; 25x21 inches, image.

Additional Details

The two images were used in long-running Bendel advertisements in the New York Times for 1970 and 1973, respectively. Magagna's work was revolutionary in the world of fashion illustration. The American retail and fashion groundbreaker, Geraldine Stutz, then President of Henri Bendel in New York City, "discovered" Magagna and selected her to be the store's exclusive artist from 1969 to the early 1970's where she abruptly changed their look from cool sophistication to a savvy, smart and edgy elegance.

During her time at Bendel, she interpreted fashion designs by Stephen Burrows, Sonia Rykiel, Jean Muir, Zandra Rhodes and others, most during the boom years of discotheque Studio 54, frequented by many of the designers. With the current popularity of 1960's and 70's fashion and the increasing interest in Magagna's work, Madelyn Jordon Fine Art recently launched the first solo exhibition of her original fashion illustrations titled "Fashion as Art: The Bendel Years and Beyond" and several designs were also previously included in the Museum of the City of New York's exhibition 'Stephen Burrows: When Fashion Danced.'