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Saint Laurent is now the focus of what is perhaps the largest retrospective of any fashion designer, with his creativity on display in six Parisian museums. The displays will be on display until May, on the exact day when Saint Laurent, then 26 years old, unveiled his namesake label's inaugural collection with a presentation at its first residence, the former workshop of French Impressionist Jean-Louis Forain, 60 years ago. The Centre Pompidou, the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, the Musée du Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée National Picasso–Paris, and, of course, the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris have all ed forces to commemorate this historic occasion, each focusing on a different theme, such as color, literature, or French craftsmanship.
"To our great surprise, all six museums were unanimously receptive," said Mouna Mekouar, who had pitched the concept of a six-venue exhibition to the Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent Foundation. "The major problem was standing out yet blending in with the permanent collections; we didn't want to jeopardize our hosts' identities." In putting together the exhibition, Mekouar and her co-curator Stephan Janson made sure to engage closely with the curatorial and conservation staff at each institution. Saint Laurent's creations are shown like works of art by history's finest artists at the Centre Pompidou, where the exhibition spans the fifth and sixth floors, hanging on walls like paintings or standing as tall as sculptures. "The lack of accessories—no shoes, no hat, no cape—accentuates this effect." "Just for what it is," Mekouar stated of the piece of apparel.
Some clashes are more abrasive than others. There are obvious examples, such as a 1965 wool jersey cocktail dress that integrates Piet Mondrian's characteristic grid-like abstractions, or when a design explicitly riffs on a painting. The garment is displayed with Composition en rouge bleu et white II, a 1937 painting by the Dutch painter. However, this link has a broader relevance in that the collection immediately elevated Mondrian's public profile.
"When Saint Laurent decided to dedicate his 1965 fall-winter line to Mondrian, only art historians knew who he was," Mekouar added. "YSL played a key role in bringing him to a broader audience." Mondrian's first retrospective was shown at the Centre Pompidou in 1969, and the artist's work was added to the permanent collection in 1975.
The museum intended to represent Saint Laurent as both a guy influenced by historical artists—Velasquez, Goya, and Botticelli, to mention a few—and a man of his day, looking for inspiration in the work of contemporary artists. His "Homage to Fernand Léger" evening gown from 1981 was created in the same tones as the Cubist artist's 1952 Polychrome Flower, which was on display next to it. Made in Japan – La Grand Odalisque (1964) by Martial Raysse was paired with a fox fur coat (1971) in the same brilliant emerald green. A table covered with over 500 Polaroids covering numerous collections made between 1979 and 2002 can be read as the storyboard of YSL's exceptional and productive career later in the exhibition.
On the other side, the Musée d'art moderne de Paris focuses on color, which Saint Laurent intended to "bring into motion." The museum had to reshuffle its permanent collection to suit the light sensitivity of many of the textiles on display, despite the fact that the galleries are often drenched in natural light. The Garden (ca. 1937) and The Lunch (ca. 1932) were transferred into a dimmer area to be displayed beside two organza dresses expressly influenced by the Nabi painter in the Bonnard room. Saint Laurent's designs are matched with Lucio Fontana's neon works in other places; both artists dreamed of sculpting light and had the same inclination to include neon into their work. However, the three bright jewel-toned costumes with contrasting overcoats that exactly match Raoul Dufy's room-sized fresco Fairy Electricity (1937) may be the most remarkable installation of the entire show because of the drama that this juxtaposition produces.
"We had numerous possibilities" at the Louvre, according to Mekouar. "We could have chosen a discussion with Spanish painters Goya and Velázquez, or with Renaissance masterpieces, but we settled on the Galerie d'Apollon, which reflects Saint Laurent's obsession with opulence." Since 1887, the museum has housed the French Crown Jewels, and YSL was recognized for translating some of his designs into jewelry. The crystal rock "Hommage à ma Maison" jacket (Spring Summer 1990) was made as a thank you to the people who worked with him. It echoes a nearby display of Louis XIV-era vases made of the same material. The couturier had Maison Scemama produce a heart-shaped gem in 1962, which he would gift to his favorite model before she walked the catwalk. This custom continued until the designer's final show. Saint Laurent was a huge fan of Marcel Proust, having grown up reading his masterwork In Search of Lost Time by the 20th-century French author. Le Smoking, one of YSL's most renowned and pioneering designs—a tuxedo suit for women—is said to be inspired by Proust. The Baron de Rothschild's 1971 Proust Ball at the Château de Ferrières, which gathers a selection of preliminary sketches by Saint Laurent for participants, is at the heart of the Musée d'Orsay portion, which takes us back to the Baron de Rothschild's ion for Proust. The top-floor bookstore displays some of the corresponding designs, including those for the Baroness's and Jane Birkin's Belle Epoque gowns.
There was only one route to get to the Musée Picasso. Throughout his career, Saint Laurent paid numerous tributes to the Spanish artist, frequently referencing from his own paintings as well as Picasso's designs for the Ballets Russes. The navy-blue jacket on display here appears to be an exact replica of the one in Nusch Eluard's Portrait (1937). In addition, the pattern in the center of a nearby black dress looks like Buste de Femme au Chapeau Rayé (1939). Both designs are from the "Homage to Picasso and Diaghilev" collection, which was unveiled in 1979, three months before the Pablo Picasso dation, in which his heirs contributed artwork to the French state as a kind of inheritance tax, resulting in the establishment of the Musée Picasso.
The Musée Yves Saint Laurent, the project's mother house and epicenter, retraces the designer's process of manufacturing clothing, from selecting buttons and patterns to molding shoes and hats. "Homage to Vincent Van Gogh" (Spring Summer 1988), which features a sparkly replica of the painter's iconic "Sunflowers" series, is the sole actual design on show. Linen prototypes, including one with a Braque-like pattern, can be found at the former atelier. Here, seamstresses would wait for Yves Saint Laurent to inspect their work.
The museum's first area uses sketches to recreate the last YSL presentation, which took place in 2002. The other five museums have many of the matching designs on display. The presentation at the Musée Yves Saint Laurent serves as both a beginning and a finale to this expansive, monographic six-stop tour, while all six exhibitions can be attended in any order. "This is a treasure hunt for individuals who appreciate following hints and clues," Mekouar added, comparing the event to several islands on an archipelago.
Selena Mattei 
