The discovery of the Lascaux cave in 1940 had a profound effect on the artists of that time. For Georges Bataille, this was the dawn of the human race. The power inherent in images of animals (deer, horses, oxen) returns us to the cradle of mankind and its connection with nature, as well as to the invention of art.
In 1951, Christian Dior used these cave paintings, making prints for them for his Ovale collection, imbued with hints of primitive female images such as Vilendorf Venus.
It was this wild and ancient femininity associated with the magic of the earth that led the art director of Dior women's collections, Maria Grazia Curie, to create her first cruise collection for a fashion house. Thus, the idea of a woman takes shape, bringing to reality this shamanistic message, this wild, almost animal spirit, about which Clarissa Pincolola Estes writes about in one of the designer’s favorite books “Running with the Wolves”.
Maria Grazia Curie is constantly looking for new ways to embrace and explore the Dior legacy. And it is prehistoric wolves that leave the Lascaux cave to take their place on the unusual silk jacquards, where an ocher of almost golden color contrasts with black ones. Female fingerprints, rethinking of the original forms turn into luxurious sequined embroidered products in earthy shades.
Maria Grazia Curie uses Dior's skill, reinventing it to tell her story in perfect forms. A story that changes proportions and lengths to fit the modern world, in which sport is mixed with high fashion, where tradition becomes a decorative abstraction and where the status of materials has changed.
A tribute to instincts leads her to the figures of women who decided to hide in the desert in order to better understand their deepest and darkest sides. This is the image of an artist like George O'Keefe emerging from the sands of New Mexico, like a hieratic figure collecting remains. This is what Vicki Noble writes about in her “Shakti Woman”: “I want to know myself, to the most sacred depth, and in this depth I want to know and feel others.”
Maria Grazia Curie also introduces a feminist pop interpretation of the Vicki Noble tarot to give new life to the art of divination, beloved by Mr. Dior. The idea that a person’s smell is a reflection of his soul can be found in the feminine scent of the iconic Eau Sauvage perfume. The elusive imprint of this wild, unstable figure again returns the woman to the pedestal in the very center of the world.
