This is a 1999 book titled Gruau. Edited by Joelle Chariau.

More than 100 of Gruau's drawings. Printed in 1999 by Te Neues Publishing Company. Hardcover.The lowest price we could find for this book online was $500.

With his fluid lines, graceful poses, and bold use of color, Rene Gruau was a master at conveying fashion's sensual promise to women. A close friend and associate of Givenchy, Dior, and other stars of the Paris fashion scene, this unprepossessing, entertaining artist worshiped women almost as much as he did the glamourous life in which he portrayed them. Women were the stars of his drawings, and their dominance in his art helped emancipate the female form from the dowdiness of the post-war era. A Gruau sketch is a masterpiece of simple elegance: wasp-like waists, enormous bows, black-gloved arms and long, long legs were all his signature trademarks, as distinctively his as the playful "G" and star with which he signed his drawings. A spirited blend of the comic, Pop Art, and classical drawing, Gruau's art shaped the New Look of the 50s and helped revive Paris haute couture. With more than 100 colorful drawings from Gruau's numerous fashion spreads in Harpers Bazaar and Vogue and from his advertising campaigns for Dior and other designers, this beautiful, oversized monograph features the highlights of a stellar career that spanned four decades. It is a stunning celebration of fashion, form, and beauty.

SIZE: 10 3/4" x 14 1/4". 175 pages.

Rene Gruau (4 February 1909 - 31 March 2004) was a renowned fashion illustrator whose exaggerated portrayal of fashion design through painting has had a lasting effect on the fashion industry . Because of Gruau's inherent skills and creativity, contributed to a change in the entire fashion industry through the new pictures that represented the already popular designs created by designers in the industry. The benefits, including economic stimulation and enhancement of advertising are still vividly presented in the industry today via a new way of fashion illustration, fashion photography. Gruau became one of the best known and favorite artists of the haute couture world during the 1940s and 50s working with Femina , Marie-Claire, L'Officiel, L'Album Du Figaro and an assortment of "high-style" magazines. Gruau's artwork is recognized and commended internationally in some of Paris and Italy's most prestigious art museums.

Born Renato Zavagli Ricciardelli delle Caminate in Rimini, Italy, on February 4, 1909, Gruau was the son of an Italian count but instead of following in his father's footsteps and accepting the job of royal military commander his passion and inclination for arts led him to a love and pursuance of fine arts. When Rene's mother, Maria Gruau, a French aristocrat, and his father separated when he was three, he moved to Paris with her. Gruau then took his mother's last name, which is the name he is known by, opposed to his father's last name and royal connection. At 14, Gruau began to support his mother and himself by selling drawings to the Milanese fashion journal Lidel.

He demonstrated talent for drawing throughout much of his early life and worked as an illustrator for fashion magazines such as Femina, Marie Claire and Vogue in Paris in his teens and early 20s. Gruau found it difficult to find work during World War II and ultimately found little work for small or unestablished designers such as Christian Dior before he became popular during this time. He worked as he could and contributed to the concealment of Jewish refugees.

Gruau's artistic talent in fashion illustration merited him publication at the age of 14 and by the time he reached 18, he was published internationally, in the US, Italy, and France. In his lifetime, Gruau worked for numerous magazines including Marie-Claire, Femina, Elle, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Flair, L'Officiel, and Madame Figaro, and L'Officiel de la Couture. Gruau was hired by major designers like Pierre Balmain, Christian Dior, Jacques Fath, Balenciaga, Elsa Schiaparelli, Rochas, Lanvin, Elizabeth Arden, and Hubert de Givenchy. Gruau gave life to their haute couture clothing and expanded their popularity with his captivating illustrations. Gruau's illustrations reinvented many of the designs and gave them lambency and radiance that the fashion industry previously lacked. Gruau, whose posters often echoed both classical Japanese drawings and Toulouse-Lautrec's sketches of fin de siecle Paris night life, was perhaps best known for creating the marketing images for Miss Dior perfume andfor Rouge Baiser lipstick. According to Alan Riding of the New York times,"everything he did, he evoked the glamour and style of the world of high fashion". Because the technical age of the 20th century had yet to emerge, Gruau's pictures were the advertisements of the time and gave marketing and presentation of clothing a new brilliant flare. Gruau's first position as artistic director for advertising was in 1947 with Christian Dior. The two together formed the "New Look" of the time, partially a result of Dior's designs, and partially a result of Gruau's combined interpretation and upgrading of old-style graphic illustration. Gruau formed a friendship with Dior that contributed to their successful collaboration and further enlargement of fashion advertisement, which a primary reason he is mostly remembered for his work with Dior.

Gruau moved to the United States in 1948 to work for Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. He remained with the magazine for two years, and then went to work as sole illustrator for Flair. There were exhibitions of Gruau's work at the Paris Muse du Costume in 1989 and Musee de la Publicite in 1999. Rimini, on Italy's Riviera, has a permanent collection in its city museum. Today Gruau's works are collected and exhibited by the finest art institutions including the Louvre in Paris.

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Inside: Excellent, near mint condition. Covers: Excellent condition. Dust jacket: Excellent condition with light wear - no damage.