In 1902, wealthy philanthropists
Irene and
Alice Lewisohn began to volunteer at the
Henry Street Settlement House in New York, a community center that provided social services and healthcare to immigrant families.[11] Alice, who acted in plays herself, began working as a drama teacher, while Irene devoted herself to dance productions. In 1914, the sisters bought a lot on the corner of Grand and Pitt Streets and donated it to the Settlement for building a new theater. The
Neighborhood Playhouse opened in 1915. By 1920, the theater employed professional actors, and it was known for its experimental productions and its revue "The Grand Street Follies."[12] Theater designer
Aline Bernstein served her apprenticeship there from 1915 to 1924 designing costumes and stage sets.
The Playhouse closed in 1927, but the company continued to produce plays on Broadway under the management of Helen F. Ingersoll. In 1928, with Rita Wallach Morganthau, the Lewisohns established the
Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre at East 54th Street, where it became an actor training school and students were offered a two-year program formal drama and dance training to become professionals.[12]
During their years of running the school theatre and producing plays, a body of knowledge was formed about acting, theater production, and costume, set and stage design. In 1937, Irene Lewisohn opened a home for this library, the Museum of Costume Art, on Fifth Avenue. Aline Bernstein served as the first President and Polaire Weissman as its first executive director.[13] After Irene Lewisohn's death in 1944,
Lord & Taylor president
Dorothy Shaver worked to bring the collection to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Shaver believed that this would strengthen the American fashion industry and raised $350,000 from New York garment manufacturers to finance the transaction.[14] The Costume Art museum became part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1946, becoming The Costume Institute but was independently run until 1959 when it became a curatorial department in the museum.[15] The Met is now home to the Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library.
Since 1946, with help from the fashion publicist
Eleanor Lambert, the institute has hosted the annual
Met Gala to raise money for operating expenses.[16]
In 2009, the American Costume Collection of the
Brooklyn Museum was transferred to the Costume Institute, as The Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The high costs of maintaining and displaying the collection was the main impetus for the move, which followed years of close collaboration between the two organizations. The collection of the Brooklyn museum is older, having been formed from private donations by former New York high society personalities, beginning with the donation in 1903 of an 1892 cream colored crepe dress worn by Kate Mallory Williams at her graduation from Brooklyn Heights Seminary.[16] Prior to the move, 23,500 objects from the Brooklyn collection were digitized and these images are now shared by both organizations.[17] At the time of the acquisition, the Met costume collection consisted of 31,000 objects from the 17th-century onwards.[17] The opening exhibition in 2014 featured work by British-born designer
Charles James, an important figure in New York fashion of the 1940s and 1950s and whose work is in the Brooklyn collection.[6]
On September 8, 2015, it was announced that
Harold Koda would be stepping down from his position as Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute. Andrew Bolton, who had joined the Costume Institute in 2002 as associate curator and was made curator in 2006, was announced as his replacement.[1]
In May 2017, the Costume Institute featured an exhibition featuring the works of
Rei Kawakubo/
Comme des Garçons. The exhibit was the Costume Institute's first exhibition focusing on a living designer since
Yves Saint Laurent in 1983.[18]
List of exhibitions
1971–1972: Fashion Plate (October 1971 – January 1972)[19][20]
^Cavallo, Adolph S (October 1971). Stoddart, Katherine (ed.).
"Fashion Plate: An Opening Exhibition for the New Costume Institute"(PDF). The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 30 (1): 45–48.
doi:
10.2307/3258574.
JSTOR3258574.
Archived(PDF) from the original on April 7, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2014. To salute the fashion industry of New York, whose tireless efforts and financial contributions were instrumental in making the new Costume Institute a reality, the Museum will present Fashion Plate in the Costume Institute in the fall of 1971...Fashion Plate will be the first of these gallery installations – the inaugural exhibition.
^"Costume Institute opens new exhibition" (Press release). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. January 1972.
Archived from the original on May 24, 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2014. The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens its second exhibition on Wednesday, January 26. Entitled Untailored Garments it presents a diverse assemblage of clothing—mostly non-European in origin—which is folded and draped on the human body rather than cut and seamed.
^Dullea, Georgia (September 25, 1994).
"Glamour Guys for the Ball". The New York Times.
Archived from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
^Brozan, Nadine (October 9, 1995).
"Chronicle". The New York Times.
Archived from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
^"CUBISM AND FASHION" (Press release). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. November 2, 1998.
Archived from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
In 1902, wealthy philanthropists
Irene and
Alice Lewisohn began to volunteer at the
Henry Street Settlement House in New York, a community center that provided social services and healthcare to immigrant families.[11] Alice, who acted in plays herself, began working as a drama teacher, while Irene devoted herself to dance productions. In 1914, the sisters bought a lot on the corner of Grand and Pitt Streets and donated it to the Settlement for building a new theater. The
Neighborhood Playhouse opened in 1915. By 1920, the theater employed professional actors, and it was known for its experimental productions and its revue "The Grand Street Follies."[12] Theater designer
Aline Bernstein served her apprenticeship there from 1915 to 1924 designing costumes and stage sets.
The Playhouse closed in 1927, but the company continued to produce plays on Broadway under the management of Helen F. Ingersoll. In 1928, with Rita Wallach Morganthau, the Lewisohns established the
Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre at East 54th Street, where it became an actor training school and students were offered a two-year program formal drama and dance training to become professionals.[12]
During their years of running the school theatre and producing plays, a body of knowledge was formed about acting, theater production, and costume, set and stage design. In 1937, Irene Lewisohn opened a home for this library, the Museum of Costume Art, on Fifth Avenue. Aline Bernstein served as the first President and Polaire Weissman as its first executive director.[13] After Irene Lewisohn's death in 1944,
Lord & Taylor president
Dorothy Shaver worked to bring the collection to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Shaver believed that this would strengthen the American fashion industry and raised $350,000 from New York garment manufacturers to finance the transaction.[14] The Costume Art museum became part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1946, becoming The Costume Institute but was independently run until 1959 when it became a curatorial department in the museum.[15] The Met is now home to the Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library.
Since 1946, with help from the fashion publicist
Eleanor Lambert, the institute has hosted the annual
Met Gala to raise money for operating expenses.[16]
In 2009, the American Costume Collection of the
Brooklyn Museum was transferred to the Costume Institute, as The Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The high costs of maintaining and displaying the collection was the main impetus for the move, which followed years of close collaboration between the two organizations. The collection of the Brooklyn museum is older, having been formed from private donations by former New York high society personalities, beginning with the donation in 1903 of an 1892 cream colored crepe dress worn by Kate Mallory Williams at her graduation from Brooklyn Heights Seminary.[16] Prior to the move, 23,500 objects from the Brooklyn collection were digitized and these images are now shared by both organizations.[17] At the time of the acquisition, the Met costume collection consisted of 31,000 objects from the 17th-century onwards.[17] The opening exhibition in 2014 featured work by British-born designer
Charles James, an important figure in New York fashion of the 1940s and 1950s and whose work is in the Brooklyn collection.[6]
On September 8, 2015, it was announced that
Harold Koda would be stepping down from his position as Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute. Andrew Bolton, who had joined the Costume Institute in 2002 as associate curator and was made curator in 2006, was announced as his replacement.[1]
In May 2017, the Costume Institute featured an exhibition featuring the works of
Rei Kawakubo/
Comme des Garçons. The exhibit was the Costume Institute's first exhibition focusing on a living designer since
Yves Saint Laurent in 1983.[18]
List of exhibitions
1971–1972: Fashion Plate (October 1971 – January 1972)[19][20]
^Cavallo, Adolph S (October 1971). Stoddart, Katherine (ed.).
"Fashion Plate: An Opening Exhibition for the New Costume Institute"(PDF). The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 30 (1): 45–48.
doi:
10.2307/3258574.
JSTOR3258574.
Archived(PDF) from the original on April 7, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2014. To salute the fashion industry of New York, whose tireless efforts and financial contributions were instrumental in making the new Costume Institute a reality, the Museum will present Fashion Plate in the Costume Institute in the fall of 1971...Fashion Plate will be the first of these gallery installations – the inaugural exhibition.
^"Costume Institute opens new exhibition" (Press release). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. January 1972.
Archived from the original on May 24, 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2014. The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens its second exhibition on Wednesday, January 26. Entitled Untailored Garments it presents a diverse assemblage of clothing—mostly non-European in origin—which is folded and draped on the human body rather than cut and seamed.
^Dullea, Georgia (September 25, 1994).
"Glamour Guys for the Ball". The New York Times.
Archived from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
^Brozan, Nadine (October 9, 1995).
"Chronicle". The New York Times.
Archived from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
^"CUBISM AND FASHION" (Press release). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. November 2, 1998.
Archived from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2014.