Bernard Blossac & Jean DeMarchy- Two Fashion

I ran across some of Bernard de la Bourdonnaie Blossac’s illustrations awhile back when I was writing the post about Antonio Lopez, the illustrator. I was struck by the simple elegance of his work. He was born in Paris, France in 1917. His parents owned a large piece of property in Solonge, north-central France and this place is where they enjoyed the sport of hunting. Bernard Blossac, a more creative soul, did not like hunting and he spent his time drawing and painting still life settings and landscapes instead.

He studied at various art academies and in the atelier of Paul Colin, prior to being discovered by designer Robert Piguet. Piguet introduced him to Paul Caldaques, President of the Chambre Synicale de la Couture. (1) Soon after meeting Caldaques he began publishing his drawings in Vogue, L’Officiel, L’Art et la Mode, Harper’s Bazaar and International Textiles. (2) Aside from Piguet, Blossac worked for such designers as Christian Dior, Jacques Fath, Jean Desses, Balenciaga, Worth, Carven and Givenchy. (3)

After the war ended in Europe, Blossac drew for several foreign journals. He traveled to the US and to London, England for business. For thirty years he devoted himself to his craft professionally. After that he continued to draw, only more for pleasure than for a living. At the time of his death in 2002, his nephew, whom he had adopted, took care of his remaining collection of art.

I could not find much information about Jean DeMarchy, the illustrator of the final drawing in this post. This does not stop me from sharing the stunning drawing by him for designer Lanvin in 1952. Much of DeMarchy’s work was published in “Harper’s Bazaar” during the 1950’s.

Both artists featured in this post used pencil, pen, soft pastels, and charcoal for their mediums. Both incorporated lovely simple lines and achieved the look of aristocratic elegance and class in their drawings. While the clothing itself was beautiful, the artists captured the essence of the experience of wearing the outfits.

My grandmother, Annette Lavender, used to have a beautiful collection of vintage fashion illustrations upon her bedroom wall. As a child I often admired them. What a lovely way to get a glimpse into the fashionable era of another time.

If you yourself would like to collect some fashion illustrations of the past, this website (http://hprints.com/search/Bernard-Blossac/) has several prints by Bernard Blossac, as well as other fashion illustrators. I did not see a copy of this illustration by Jean DeMarchy however.

I hope you enjoyed this post. I had foot surgery on my right foot last Friday morning, so I have been recuperating and it is a slow process. I find it quite difficult to wrap my head around writing posts at this moment. I have several in the works but perhaps by next week I will be more able to focus on them. I have been on pain killers and feeling quite drugged. Right now my life is revolving around my right foot healing and that involves a small repetition of daily acts such as icing my foot regularly, cat napping and hobbling around in between. Luckily I have been getting help and am being well taken care of.

I do hope you enjoy whatever is left of summer, and the coming joy of fall. Fall is one of my favorite seasons and I am seriously looking forward to fall and fall posts!