Kostuumstudies van een dame en een heer 1770 - 1825

Simon Andreas Krausz created this costume study of a lady and a gentleman with pencil and watercolour. The composition spreads across the sheet in a series of loosely sketched figures and details of clothing. Each element seems to float, anchored only by the barest indication of ground. The artist has created a semiotic system of signs that signify status and identity. The figures are defined by the shapes of their garments; high-waisted dresses, frock coats, top hats. The delicate application of watercolour lends a gossamer quality to the forms, reinforcing the idea of fashion as fleeting and insubstantial. Krausz’s sketches offer us a glimpse into the sartorial codes of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Look at how the artist’s style, with its emphasis on line and delicate washes, mirrors the very ephemerality it depicts. This visual correspondence invites us to consider how fashion itself functions as a language, communicating identity and aspirations within a specific cultural context.