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Sequins - Poses - Powder Boxes
Fashion Drawings and Objects from the Twenties

07.05.2009 to 09.08.2009

Kunstbibliothek
Kunstbibliothek

The fashion culture of the nineteen-twenties lies at the heart of the next temporary exhibition by the Sammlung Modebild - Lipperheidesche Kostümbibliothek. In the 'Golden Twenties', fashion and beauty played a decisive role in the development of modern society and became important forms of representation for large swathes of the urban population. The cult of beauty in particular experienced an enormous boom with the establishment of countless cosmetic studios and the release of numerous new products onto the market. These changes in fashion and beauty are reflected in the exhibition through two kinds of exhibits: fashion drawings and powder boxes.

The heart of the exhibition is in part formed by the unique collection of the Sammlung Modebild - Lipperheidesche Kostümbibliothek, with its numerous fashion drawings from Berlin, Paris and Vienna. Most of the 150 or so original fashion drawings by renowned, partly long-forgotten artists (among them Ernst Dryden, Helen Ernst, Lieselotte Friedländer, Kenan, Jeanne Mammen, Rolf Niczky, Annie Offterdinger and Paul Scheurich) are going on display for the first time ever.

The second focus of the exhibition is formed by the powder boxes and cosmetic accessories of a private collector from Berlin. The 200 exhibits in this collection illustrate the high quality and diversity, both in terms of design and form, of this now rare to find cosmetic product.