Photograph
1936 (Photographed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Oliver Messel (1904-1978) was Britain's leading theatre designer of the 1930s, '40s and '50s. He created settings and costumes for all forms of entertainment - ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue - as well as working in interior decoration and textile design. His lavish, painterly and romantic concepts were perfectly in tune with the times and earned him an international reputation. By 1960, however, that style was becoming unfashionable, and Messel gradually abandoned theatre and built a new career designing luxury homes in the Caribbean.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s film version of Romeo and Juliet was the most expensive production in the studio’s history up until 1936. Messel had spent four months in Italy researching for the film and during his trip, he took 2,769 photographs of villas, piazzas, balconies, frescos and paintings. The paintings of Bellini, Carpaccio, Botticelli and Pietro Della Francesca were studied for inspiration for costumes and sets.Romeo and Juliet was nominated for four Academy Awards including Set Design and Best Picture.
In this photograph, Messel is designing costumes for Norma Shearer, who played Juliet in the film. Norma Shearer’s costumes for the film required over one hundred yards of fabric, which were finished with hand embroidery and the application of thousands of beads and pearls.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s film version of Romeo and Juliet was the most expensive production in the studio’s history up until 1936. Messel had spent four months in Italy researching for the film and during his trip, he took 2,769 photographs of villas, piazzas, balconies, frescos and paintings. The paintings of Bellini, Carpaccio, Botticelli and Pietro Della Francesca were studied for inspiration for costumes and sets.Romeo and Juliet was nominated for four Academy Awards including Set Design and Best Picture.
In this photograph, Messel is designing costumes for Norma Shearer, who played Juliet in the film. Norma Shearer’s costumes for the film required over one hundred yards of fabric, which were finished with hand embroidery and the application of thousands of beads and pearls.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | photographic print |
| Brief description | Black and white photograph of Oliver Messel designing costumes for the film Romeo and Juliet, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1936. |
| Physical description | Black and white photograph of Oliver Messel, sitting on a floor, designing costumes for the film Romeo and Julietin 1936. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Acquired with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Art Fund and the Friends of the V&A |
| Object history | Lord Snowdon, Oliver Messel's nephew, inherited Messel's theatre designs and other designs and artefacts. The designs were briefly stored in a disused chapel in Kensington Palace before being housed at the V&A from 1981 on indefinite loan. The V&A Theatre Museum purchased the Oliver Messel collection from Lord Snowdon in 2005. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Association | |
| Summary | Oliver Messel (1904-1978) was Britain's leading theatre designer of the 1930s, '40s and '50s. He created settings and costumes for all forms of entertainment - ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue - as well as working in interior decoration and textile design. His lavish, painterly and romantic concepts were perfectly in tune with the times and earned him an international reputation. By 1960, however, that style was becoming unfashionable, and Messel gradually abandoned theatre and built a new career designing luxury homes in the Caribbean. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s film version of Romeo and Juliet was the most expensive production in the studio’s history up until 1936. Messel had spent four months in Italy researching for the film and during his trip, he took 2,769 photographs of villas, piazzas, balconies, frescos and paintings. The paintings of Bellini, Carpaccio, Botticelli and Pietro Della Francesca were studied for inspiration for costumes and sets.Romeo and Juliet was nominated for four Academy Awards including Set Design and Best Picture. In this photograph, Messel is designing costumes for Norma Shearer, who played Juliet in the film. Norma Shearer’s costumes for the film required over one hundred yards of fabric, which were finished with hand embroidery and the application of thousands of beads and pearls. |
| Bibliographic reference | Pinkham, Roger (ed.) Oliver Messel: an exhibition held at the Theatre Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, 22 June - 30 September 1983.
London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983. 200p., ill
(ISBN 0905209508) |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.6495-2009 |
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| Record created | March 26, 2010 |
| Record URL |
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