Last night in London, Christie's South Kensington auction house played host to an exhibition and discussion orchestrated by the Fashion Illustration Gallery (FIG).Last night in London, Christie's South Kensington auction house played host to an exhibition and discussion orchestrated by the Fashion Illustration Gallery (FIG). And while the audience sat through the Issa London-sponsored talk, whose panel included Christie's Meredith Etherington-Smith, illustrator David Downton (whose work is pictured above, top left), and cbamd.com's Tim Blanks, they were left wondering: Should astute art investors buy up fashion illustration in the same way the world should have snatched up early Basquiat or Koons? "Before Andy Warhol was Andy Warhol, he was a fashion illustrator," said Etherington-Smith. "Fifty years ago, the art world debated whether photography was a bona fide art form, and the same is happening now with fashion illustration. I believe there is no doubt fashion illustration is an art, but a vastly underappreciated one."

The art on display last night represented the old guard like Cecil Beaton, Antonio Lopez (above, bottom left), and Andy Warhol, as well as such new talents as Gary Card (above, top right), Zoe Taylor (above, bottom right), and Tanya Ling. Strange bedfellows? Not according to Downton. "Some of the younger fashion illustrators out there are the most skilled draftsmen," he said. "They very much should take their place alongside the great artists of days gone."

Among the questions thrown out to an audience that included Suzy Menkes, Camilla Al Fayed, and Susie Bubble: Will fashion illustration ever be accepted as an art form? And will magazine editors ever replace celebs for illustrations? Downton, perhaps, answered these queries best. "The illustration I did a few years back of Cate Blanchett for Australian Vogue was, against all odds, the fastest-selling issue of the year. It also won the Maggie's Magazine Cover of the Year. After that, there was no doubt for me that there is a place in the art world for fashion illustration."

FIG's exhibition at Christie's South Kensington runs through December 19.
POST: 2024-05-17