Texarkana Museum Exhibits Dresses by Designer Fortuny
TEXARKANA – The largest privately owned collection of dresses by the Italian designer Mariano Fortuny will be displayed through Jan. 15 in an exhibit entitled "In the Style of Fortuny" at the Museum of Regional History in Texarkana.
Born in 1871 in Spain, Fortuny was renowned for his dress and textile designs, but was also a painter, inventor and photographer. After being reared in Paris, he moved in 1899 to Venice and lived there until his death in 1949. He devised a unique process for printing designs on textiles, particularly silk, that allowed him extensive artistic leeway in creating fabrics.
There are some 60 Fortuny pieces in the Texarkana exhibit, including 18 dresses, scarves, pillows and masks. The dresses, which date back to the early 1900s, are valued at $5,000 and up.
"No two of the dresses are the same, and each will fit any size," Ina McDowell, executive director of the Texarkana Museums System, said. "The colors and texture of the fabrics is truly amazing," she added.
The museum is located at 219 N. State Line Ave. in downtown Texarkana. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and $3.50 for students.
Also on display at the museum, McDowell said, is an exhibit entitled "Inside Out -- Sewing It All Together," which displays dresses dating from 1840 through 1905 turned inside out to reveal the needlework used to create them.
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