Rene Gruau, Italian (1909 - 2004)
Rene Gruau was born in Italy in 1909. With his stunning, passionate, figures, his arresting use of color and dramatic, explosive element of line, Rene Gruau developed his distinctive New Look in the 1940's which greatly impacted haute couture, theatre, art, and commercial design. With Rene Gruau's trademark use of his powerful minimal line, Gruau's style combined seductive sophistication with classic beauty, grace and sensual elegance. The quality of the visual appeal of Gruau's glamorous and radiant beautiful people is at once bold and languid. Internationally Gruau's artwork is celebrated internationally noted for its' exceptional and masterful line, and its' timeless, enduring style.
In the 1940‘s and 50‘s Gruau became a favorite of the haute couture world, working with Femina, Marie-Claire, L'Officiel, L'Album Du Figaro and other “high-style” magazines. Some of Gruau’s best work can be seen in the dramatic visual statements he rendered for Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Hubert de Givenchy. In 1948 Rene Gruau left for the United States to work for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, before becoming the exclusive artist for FLAIR. He also produced stunningly beautiful advertisements for the LIDO, MOULIN ROUGE and BEMBERG. Almost right up until his death at the age of 95, Gruau continued to work for the greatest names in Haute Couture: Balmain, Fath, Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, Givenchy, Rochas while also producing fashion drawings for ELLE, Vogue, France, Madame Figaro and L'Officiel de la Couture.
Today Gruau’s works are collected and exhibited by the finest art institutions including the Louvre in Paris. Rene Gruau’s artistic passion, intensity and technical brilliance have left a high-water mark on art history.