Canvas and Silk: Historic Fashion from Madrid's Museo del Traje

Mantón de Manila (embroidered Manila silk shawl) [detail], c. 1920. Silk. Museo del Traje, Madrid. ©Museo del Traje. Centro de Investigación del Patrimonio Etnológico, Madrid, Spain; CE053257. Photo by Lucía Ybarra Zubiaga

Canvas & Silk: Historic Fashion from Madrid’s Museo del Traje for the first time pairs works in the Meadows collection with representative examples of the historic dress depicted to shed new light on the relationship between image and artifact. Curated in collaboration with the Museo del Traje, Madrid’s premier museum of historic dress, the exhibition seeks to offer a glimpse into some historical fashions through the lens of Spanish art and marks that institution’s first major partnership with an American museum. Loans include jewelry, shoes, accessories, and ensembles for men, women, and children. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated publication featuring a single essay co-authored by the exhibition’s curators, Amanda W. Dotseth (Meadows Museum) and Elvira González (Museo del Traje).

Antonio Casanova y Estorach (Spanish, 1847–1896), Favorites of the Court, 1877. Oil on canvas. Meadows Museum, SMU, Dallas. Algur H. Meadows Collection, MM.65.12. Photo by Michael Bodycomb.