ANTELOPES & QUEENS
Models wearing evening dresses and accessories from Saint Laurent’s Spring 1967 Haute Couture collection inspired by Bambara art • Circa 1967 • Image courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent Accessories by Patrick Mauriès
Seven years after the Museum of Primitive Art’s groundbreaking show celebrating Bambara sculpture, Yves Saint Laurent debuted his African Collection, also celebrating the stunning art of the Bambara culture.
Bamana Sogoni Koun Headdress • 19th - 20th Century • Mali • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
“The exhibition Antelopes and Queens: Bambara Sculpture from the Western Sudan opened to the public at the now-defunct Museum of Primitive Art (MPA) in New York on February 17, 1960. The late Robert Goldwater, a modernist art historian and the MPA’s director at the time, organized the show. Antelopes and Queens featured sculptures linked to present-day Mali and identified as Bambara or Bamana, the latter term now prevalent in English and often considered the name of a distinct cultural or ethnic group with its own art style. In a press release timed for the exhibition’s opening, the museum characterized the show as “the first comprehensive exhibition ever assembled of [Bambara art].” The MPA’s focus on works linked to a single cultural or ethnic group was unprecedented, and it created a standard for exhibitions of African art that endured throughout the twentieth century… The graceful, stylized antelope dance headpieces, and the very rare, majestic figures known as ‘queens’ have given the show its title.” • The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Original sketches of ensembles inspired by Bambara art • Spring / Summer 1967 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • Image courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent : Voyages Extraordinaires published by Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris
“Other than his visits to Morocco, Yves Saint Laurent did not like traveling. His most beautiful journeys were imagined... For his Spring / Summer 1967 collection, he was inspired by Africa, creating a series of delicate gowns from a variety of materials, including wooden beads, raffia, straw, and golden thread.... The most noticeable dress paid tribute to the Bambara sculptures produced by the community of the same name in Mali.” • Courtesy of The Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris
Model wearing a short evening dress and earrings from Saint Laurent’s Spring 1967 Haute Couture collection inspired by Bambara art • Circa 1967
Bamana Ci Wara Male Antelope Headdress • 19th - 20th Century • Mali • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Original sketches of headdresses in homage to Bambara art • Spring / Summer 1967 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • Image courtesy of Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris
Danielle Luquet de Saint Germain modeling a short evening dress and earrings from Saint Laurent’s Spring 1967 Haute Couture collection inspired by Bambara art • Circa 1967 • Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil, Bois de Boulogne, Paris • Jean-Paul Cadé • Image courtesy of Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris
Four evening dresses inspired by Bambara art • Spring / Summer 1967 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • Image courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent by Yves Saint Laurent and Diana Vreeland in association with the 1983 exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Bamana Ntomo Antelope Figure Mask • 19th - 20th Century • Mali • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Original sketch of a short evening dress in homage to Bambara art • Spring / Summer 1967 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • Image courtesy of Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris
Bamana Seated Female Figure • 15th - 20th Century • Mali • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Twiggy modeling an evening ensemble from Saint Laurent’s Spring 1967 Haute Couture collection inspired by Bambara art • 1967
Bamana Sogoni Koun Headdress • 19th - 20th Century • Mali • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City • Image courtesy of Bambara Sculpture from the Western Sudan by Robert Goldwater in association with the 1960 exhibition at the now-defunct Museum of Primitive Art, New York City
Model wearing a short evening dress and earrings inspired by Bambara art • Spring / Summer 1967 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • Image courtesy of CATWALK Yves Saint Laurent : The Complete Haute Couture Collections by Suzy Menkes
Short Eveningwear Collection Board in homage to Bambara art • Spring / Summer 1967 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • Image courtesy of Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris
Beaded Evening Dress Inspired by Bambara Art • Spring / Summer 1967 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • Image courtesy of Christie’s
Elsa Martinelli modeling a short evening dress and earrings from Saint Laurent’s Spring 1967 Haute Couture collection inspired by Bambara art • March 1967 • Vogue France • Willy Rizzo
Bamana Mother and Child • 15th - 20th Century • Mali • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City • Image courtesy of Bambara Sculpture from the Western Sudan by Robert Goldwater in association with the 1960 exhibition at the now-defunct Museum of Primitive Art, New York City
Twiggy modeling a short evening dress from Saint Laurent’s Spring 1967 Haute Couture collection inspired by Bambara art • March 15, 1967 • Vogue • Bert Stern
Collection of Antelope Headdresses • Image courtesy of Bambara Sculpture from the Western Sudan by Robert Goldwater in association with the 1960 exhibition at the now-defunct Museum of Primitive Art, New York City
Original sketches of ensembles inspired by Bambara art • Spring / Summer 1967 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • Image courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent : Voyages Extraordinaires published by Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris
Model wearing an evening dress and earrings inspired by Bambara art • Spring / Summer 1967 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • Image courtesy of CATWALK Yves Saint Laurent : The Complete Haute Couture Collections by Suzy Menkes
Atelier's specification sheet, or Bible, for a Dress from the Tropics in homage to Bambara art • Spring / Summer 1967 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • Image courtesy of Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris
Bamana Ntomo Mask • 19th - 20th Century • Mali • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Original sketch for the tubular horn or unicorn headdress made of hair, straw, wood and raffia, inspired by Bambara art • Spring / Summer 1967 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • Image courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent Accessories by Patrick Mauriès
Model wearing an evening dress and earrings inspired by Bambara art • Spring / Summer 1967 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • Image courtesy of CATWALK Yves Saint Laurent : The Complete Haute Couture Collections by Suzy Menkes
Bamana Ntomo Antelope Figure Mask • 19th - 20th Century • Mali • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City • Image courtesy of Bambara Sculpture from the Western Sudan by Robert Goldwater in association with the 1960 exhibition at the now-defunct Museum of Primitive Art, New York City
Original sketches of ensembles inspired by Bambara art • Spring / Summer 1967 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • Image courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent : Voyages Extraordinaires published by Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris
Bamana Ntomo Antelope Figure Mask • 19th - 20th Century • Mali • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Detail of an evening dress inspired by Bambara art • Spring / Summer 1967 Haute Couture Collection • Yves Saint Laurent • Image courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent by Yves Saint Laurent and Diana Vreeland in association with the 1983 exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Bamana Mother and Child • 15th - 20th Century • Mali • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
