collection SC.187 - Frances Neady collection of original fashion illustrations, 1913-

Identity area

Reference code

US NNFIT SC.187

Title

Frances Neady collection of original fashion illustrations, 1913-

Date(s)

  • 1984- (Acquisition)
  • 1913- (Creation)

Level of description

collection

Extent and medium

152 linear feet
Fashion illustrations, watercolors

Context area

Name of creator

(1984 (date of establishment))

Administrative history

On February 6, 1984, an exhibition of 45 superb fashion drawings opened in the lobby of the Shirley Goodman Resource Center at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). The show included works by storied illustrators Antonio (Lopez), Eric (Carl Ericson), and Esther Larson. An exciting mix of illustrators, art directors, collectors, and members of the College community attended the champagne reception. It was an auspicious inauguration of the Frances Neady Collection of original fashion illustrations.

Housed in the FIT Library’s unit of Special Collections, the collection was established in honor of an inspirational fashion illustration teacher who served on the faculties of Parsons School of Design and FIT for a total of 50 years before retiring in 1978. Soon after her death in 1982, two FIT faculty members and erstwhile Neady students, Rosemary Torre and Frederick Bennett, began working to create a permanent testimonial in her memory. This collection of twentieth-century fashion illustrations would be properly stored and maintained, and made available for students, faculty, and independent researchers to study.

Bennett and Torre chaired a committee that included noted illustrators (and FIT faculty) Alvin Pimsler, Morton Kaish, and Richard Ely as well as Richard Martin, a celebrated fashion scholar who curated exhibitions at what became The Museum at FIT and was later curator of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. The committee determined criteria for accessioning work. They looked for illustrators who set high standards of draftsmanship and aesthetic quality; demonstrated originality and technical virtuosity; worked for topflight stores, magazines and corporations; and earned the admiration of their peers.

Over the years, top illustrators and important donors contributed pieces. Esther Larson worked from the 1930s to 1995 for high-end stores including Lord and Taylor, Jacobson's, and Montaldo's as well as for Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. George Stavrinos created an unmistakable identity for Bergdorf Goodman. Harvey Boyd, FIT faculty member, was an artist for Vogue. Bob and Bertha Hermann filled Lord & Taylor ads with Cary-Grant- like figures. Kermit Adler, former Art Director at Lord & Taylor, donated drawings by Dorothy Hood, Fred Greenhill and Carl Wilson. Among the accessioned works are a rare nude by René Bouché and a series by Antonio that demonstrates the process by which an illustration is created.

In 1999, New York’s Society of Illustrators mounted an exhibition of highlights from the Neady collection, and The Museum at FIT included selections in its 2004 show The Artful Line. The Brandywine River Museum and what is now the New Britain Museum of American Art have also exhibited works, and Neady illustrations have appeared in important publications on fashion art: Illustrating Fashion, by noted illustrator Eunice Sloane; Fashion Illustration in New York, edited by Peter Sato; Antonio’s Girls; and 20th Century Fashion Illustration: The Feminine Ideal, by Rosemary Torre.

Today, the nucleus of 45 high-quality illustrations has grown to more than 300, and it continues to expand. Much of the collection has been digitized and is accessible on the Library website, and individuals can make an appointment through Special Collections to view the original pieces. The Frances Neady Collection continues to evolve, delight and, most appropriately, to instruct while offering a valuable overview of a specialized art field.

Archival history

Upon the creation of this finding aid in August of 2017, numbers were assigned to sketches which previously had no unique identifier.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Rosemary Torre and others founded the Neady Collection 1984.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

The Frances Neady collection of Original Fashion Illustrations was established in 1984 to honor its namesake, an inspirational teacher of fashion illustration. The collection encompasses over a century of fashion art. Its earliest example, a watercolor by Pierre Brissaud for Gazette du Bon Ton, is dated 1913; its most recent donation is by contemporary artist Ruben Toledo. Among other stars represented in the collection are Eric (Carl Erickson), René Bouché, Dorothy Hood, George Stavrinos, and Antonio (Lopez). Donations to the collection come from artists, collectors, and industry professionals. The donated works fulfill criteria established by the Neady Collection Advisory Board, which acknowledges artists who exhibit high standards of draftsmanship and esthetic quality, demonstrate an individual approach, possess technical virtuosity, have worked for high-end magazines, stores or corporations, and have earned the admiration of their peers. The Frances Neady collection’s mission is to encourage and facilitate research by students and industry professionals in the art of fashion illustration. The collection presents a graphic record of the art’s evolution since the 1910s. In addition, it provides a vivid cultural and visual reflection of its time.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

The Neady Collection Advisory Board periodically reviews donations to determine accruals to the collection.

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Access is open to researchers by appointment at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Conditions governing reproduction

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

FIT Library unit of Special Collections and College Archives

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Neady Collection Excel File (M:),The Frances Neady Collection by Rosemary Torre; Fashion Drawing by Frances Neady; The Library's catalogue for this collection is located: https://fit.sunyconnect.suny.edu:4699/F?func=direct&doc_number=000078484

Related descriptions

Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Description control area

Description identifier

US

Institution identifier

NNFIT

Rules and/or conventions used

AAT; ANSI; DACS; DCMI; ISAD(G); ISO; LoC; NISO; etc

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

  • Latin

Sources

Archivist's note

The Head of SPARC, SPARC associates, and SPARC interns contributed to the description and arrangement of this collection.

Accession area