The BMW Museum is dedicating a special exhibition to the world-renowned fashion and advertising illustrator Rene Gruau, who died in 2004. From March 24 through June 30, around 80 of the artist's original works will be on display, covering the period from 1946 to 2000.
"With these drawings by Rene Gruau, we are bringing something very special to the BMW Museum and adding another facet to our involvement in the fashion world," said Dr Ralf Rodepeter, Director of the BMW Museum and Communications Visitor Experience Munich. "Through his inimitably evocative and elegant strokes, Gruau continues to influence the world of fashion illustration and advertising to this day."
Gruau, born in Rimini, Italy in 1909 as Renato Zavagli Ricciardelli, was already publishing his first works at the age of 14, and four years later he was producing drawings for Italian, German and British magazines. In the early 1930s he moved to Paris.
When Christian Dior - a close friend of his - opened his fashion house in 1947, Gruau was commissioned with creating graphic images for all the Dior fragrances. Gruau soon became the preferred artist of the luxury industry and of the leading fashion magazines. From 1989 on, retrospectives of his work were shown in Paris, Rome, Munich, Cologne, New York, Tokyo and London. Gruau died in Rome in 2004.