"Roan Stallion"

Gilbert Adrian

1945 · silk · Costume Institute

Adrian, who had shown an enormous talent for drawing and painting since childhood, often used the garment as a canvas, sketching in pencil on the basic muslin toile. Cutters and stitchers helped transform his pencil lines into the seam lines of the intricate insets that characterize the finished Adrian garment. In this evening dress he bypassed the sketching stage and applied his paintbrush directly to the fabric, producing the powerful effect of a rearing roan stallion.

Artist

Gilbert Adrian

Date

1945

Medium

silk

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Gilbert Adrian, 1945