Autograph suit of Sandy Powell

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During the film awards season in early 2020, costume designer Sandy Powell wore a cream calico toile (a tailor's mock-up) two-piece suit of her own design, and collected celebrities' autographs on it in permanent marker. The suit was then auctioned to raise funds for the purchase of artist, filmmaker and gay rights activist Derek Jarman's cottage at Dungeness in Kent, England. The suit was bought by Edwina Dunn, who then donated it to the Theatre and Performance Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London.[1] In April 2022 the suit featured in an episode of the BBC Two series Secrets of the Museum.[2]

Origin[edit]

Prospect Cottage

In 1985 artist, filmmaker and gay rights activist Derek Jarman gave Sandy Powell her first job in the film industry, as the costume designer for his film Caravaggio.[3] The year Caravaggio was released, Jarman was diagnosed with HIV. Shortly afterwards, he moved into Prospect Cottage, a Victorian fisherman's cottage on the shingle beach at Dungeness in Kent, in the shadow of Dungeness Nuclear Power Station. Jarman died in 1994, and the cottage was bequeathed to his partner Keith Collins. The house was put up for sale in 2018 after Collins' death,[4] its interior still containing Jarman's belongings, art and materials, and artwork by Jarman's friends and admirers, including Maggi Hambling, John Maybury, Gus Van Sant and Richard Hamilton.[5]

In January 2020, with Prospect Cottage at risk of being sold privately and its contents dispersed, the Art Fund began a fundraising drive to secure the cottage's future.[6] To help with this, Powell decided to collect celebrities' signatures on a suit toile she had designed (getting the signatures while wearing it), and then auction the suit. As Powell was to be awarded the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film at the Critics' Circle awards,[7] and was nominated for Best Costume Design for The Irishman at both the BAFTAs[8] and the Oscars,[9] she had plenty of opportunity to collect autographs at the coming awards ceremonies.

The suit[edit]

The two-piece suit (jacket and trousers) is a toile, a tailor's mock-up to test a design before expensive material is committed. The toile is the toile for the suits that Powell wore to the 2017 and 2019 Oscars and BAFTAS.[10] The toile is made of cream calico with rough stitching, with the jacket fixed by two large safety pins. It was deliberately chosen to be a "blank canvas" on which to collect signatures.[11] Over a six-week period during the 2020 film awards season, Powell attended The Critics' Circle awards ceremony on 30 January 2020,[6][7] the 2020 BAFTAs award show on 2 February 2020[12] and the 2020 Oscars ceremony on 9 February 2020,[13] plus other events, and collected over 200 signatures on the suit.[1] Powell noted that some people chose where to sign, while others were told, with "only girls on the bum".[3]

The suit was auctioned online between 4 and 11 March 2020 by Phillips Auction House, after being displayed in the foyer of its gallery in Berkeley Square, London, along with four handwritten keys identifying almost all the signatures on the various parts of the suit.[14][15] The suit sold for £16,000.[6] It was purchased by Edwina Dunn, who then donated it to the V&A Museum, on behalf of The Female Lead, an educational charity that drives change and equality for women.[11][1] The suit underwent conservation cleaning at the museum, and Powell visited the museum to help choose the mannequin on which it was to be displayed. Powell's handwritten keys were to be mounted alongside the suit in the gallery when it was to go on display.[3] The suit was placed on display in April 2022 in Room 104 of the V&A's Theatre & Performance galleries.[16][11]

The campaign to save Prospect Cottage was a success, and it will host residencies for artists, academics and gardeners.[3]

List of most of the signatories on the suit[edit]

By the time of its auction there were over 200 signatures on the suit.[17][18] Powell noted in the 2022 television programme Secrets of the Museum that some of the signatures had yet to be identified. Those who signed it include:[19]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Nadia Khomami (13 April 2022). "V&A acquires 'autograph suit' signed by stars at Baftas and Oscars". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  2. ^ "BBC Two - Secrets of the Museum". BBC. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d "Secrets of the Museum. Series 3, Episode 2". BBC. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  4. ^ Gareth Harris (22 January 2020). "Artists rally to save Prospect Cottage, the house of late filmmaker Derek Jarman". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  5. ^ Knegt, Peter (30 January 2020). "Filmmaker Derek Jarman's cottage was a vital creative hub. Now Tilda Swinton is trying to save it". CBC Arts. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  6. ^ a b c "Derek Jarman's Prospect Cottage saved for the nation". Art Fund. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  7. ^ a b "SANDY POWELL TO RECEIVE TOP HONOUR AT CRITICS' CIRCLE FILM AWARDS". Critics' Circle. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  8. ^ "2020 EE British Academy Film Awards: The Winners". BAFTA. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  9. ^ "Oscar Nominations 2019: The Complete List". Variety. January 22, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  10. ^ "1. Sandy Powell. Signed suit for the Prospect Cottage campaign 2020". Phillips.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Costume ARTIST/MAKER Powell, Sandy (designer)". Victoria and Albert Museum. 12 November 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  12. ^ Caroline Davies (4 February 2020). "Sandy Powell's Bafta suit raises funds to save Derek Jarman's cottage". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  13. ^ Wally, Maxine (19 February 2020). "Why Brad and Leo Signed the Costume Designer Sandy Powell's Suit". W Magazine. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  14. ^ "Sandy Powell's Suit: An online auction in support of Derek Jarman's Prospect Cottage: London Auction Wednesday, March 4, 2020". Phillips.
  15. ^ "Sandy Powell's signed suit to be auctioned to help save Prospect Cottage". Art Fund. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  16. ^ @V_and_A (April 13, 2022). "Is this the world's most star-studded suit? 🌟NEW on display at the V&A: Sandy Powell's Autograph Suit, signed by…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ^ a b Ellie Violet Bramley (4 March 2020). "'It made the Oscars fun': signature-laden suit goes on show before auction". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  18. ^ Other references (4 March Art Fund article) give the number at 100, but the list at the end of 4 March Art Fund article contains 190 names. It seems the body of the text had not been updated.
  19. ^ Names listed here are taken from the 4 March 2020 Art Fund article unless otherwise stated.
  20. ^ Peter Fillingham is a sculptor. He made the wooden inscription of John Donne's poem "The Sun Rising" on the side of Prospect Cottage for Derek Jarman: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9pf_FcFg2d/
  21. ^ Powell identified his signature on this Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9T9-GVA_mS/ but spelled his first name incorrectly as Michael

External links[edit]

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