Artwork
Pour l'ami
Pour l'ami is a drawing by Madeleine & Madeleine. It dates from 1924 and is held in the collection of the Palais Galliera - Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris.
About this work
This sketch shows a woman from the back, wearing a long black dress with a high neck and embroidered details.
This sketch shows a woman from the back, wearing a long black dress with a high neck and embroidered details. The dress has a wide belt and a full skirt that flares out. Her hair is pulled up neatly, and she stands with one hand resting on her hip. In the corner, there’s a smaller sketch of another woman in a simpler dress.
The notes say the dress is made of black satin with white pearls and gold embroidery. The artist signed it "Madeleine & Madeleine" in 1924.
Look up embroidery to see how this kind of stitching was done.
Overview
Madeleine & Madeleine’s 1924 drawing, titled *Pour l'ami / Robe de satin noir brodée / perles blanches – Broderie vieil or*, is part of the collection of the Museum of Ethnography. The image records a woman seen from behind, dressed in a long black satin gown embellished with white pearls and gold‑thread embroidery, and includes a smaller ancillary sketch of a second, more simply dressed figure.
Subject & Meaning
The principal figure is presented with her back to the viewer, her hair styled in an updo and one hand placed on her hip, suggesting a poised, perhaps ceremonial stance. The accompanying miniature sketch may serve as a comparative study or a complementary portrait, highlighting variations in dress and status within the same visual narrative.
Technique & Style
The drawing renders the texture of satin through careful shading, while the white pearls and gilt embroidery are indicated by fine, stippled marks that suggest reflective surfaces. The artist’s line work captures the voluminous skirt and wide belt, emphasizing the garment’s structure and decorative richness without employing color, relying instead on tonal contrast to convey materiality.
History & Provenance
Signed and dated by Madeleine & Madeleine in 1924, the work entered the Museum of Ethnography’s holdings at an unspecified later date. Its provenance traces back to the early twentieth‑century European interest in documenting traditional and haute couture attire, reflecting the period’s ethnographic and artistic concerns.
Context
Created during the interwar years, the drawing aligns with a broader movement of artists documenting clothing as cultural artifacts. The emphasis on luxurious fabrics, pearls, and gold embroidery mirrors contemporary fascination with opulent fashion and its symbolic associations with status and identity.
Legacy
While the piece remains a modest illustration within the museum’s collection, it contributes to the visual archive of early twentieth‑century dressmaking techniques, offering scholars a reference point for the representation of embroidered satin garments in graphic form.
Artist & collection
Artist
These artists left a small but striking set of 1924 drawings and designs that mix fashion and line.
Museum
Palais Galliera - Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris
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