When she was Romania’s crown princess (1893–1914), Marie of Edinburgh (later Queen Marie of Romania) began wearing peasant-inspired clothing from the country’s eastern provinces — a fashion trend long promoted by Elisabeth of Wied, Queen of Romania, and her court. A Particular Beauty draws from Maryhill’s collection of more than 450 items of Romanian clothing and textiles. The display will include about 20 fully dressed mannequins, and numerous individual garments such as coats, vests, shirts and blouses.The exhibition will showcase a remarkable variety of Romanian embroidery techniques, mediums, and styles that have evolved through the influences of adjacent ethnic populations, resident invaders, other outsiders, and—in recent decades–urbanization. Contextual labels and photographs will tie the objects to specific villages, counties, geographical regions, and artisan workshops.

A Particular Beauty: Romanian Folk Clothing will be accompanied by a 32-page color publication (available in Summer 2020) as well as numerous education programs throughout the season.

Major sponsors of the exhibition are Bill and Cathy Dickson with support from the Romanian American Society (Portland) and the American Romanian Cultural Society (Seattle).  Partners include Atlianta, Washington D.C., the American Romanian Cultural Society (ARCS) Seattle; the Romanian American Society (RAS) Portland; and, the Romanian Cultural Institute (CRCI) New York.   

Two- and three-dimensional works by prominent women artists including Gene Kloss, Katja Oxman, Betty LaDuke, Frances Senska, and Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller among them. While the exhibition celebrates the passage of the 19th amendment and women’s right to vote, it’s important to note that African-American women such as Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller and Native American women were not universally free to vote until after the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Image: Sarah Horowitz (American, b. 1977), Blue Magnolia Blooms, 2008, gouache on iron gall ink-dyed paper, 20” x 14”; Collection of Maryhill Museum of Art

In 1926, when Queen Marie of Romania traveled to the Pacific Northwest to dedicate Maryhill Museum of Art for her friend Samuel Hill, she carried with her a variety of art objects that became the nucleus of the museum’s permanent collection. Included in this material were some fine Russian icons. The icon collection has since grown, through donation and purchases, and now includes more than 25 items. This selection of Maryhill’s Orthodox icons features images of St. Nicholas, St. John the Baptist, the Mother of God, and other subjects.

Image: Unknown Russian artists, Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign (Platytera) with beaded riza, c. 1800–1850, tempera on wood panel and glass beads, 9” x 8”; Collection of Maryhill Museum of Art

Curated by Nicolae Pepene, this exhibition was realized by the County Museum of History Brasov, Forums Association and Alianta, Washington D.C. with the support of Romania’s Ministry of Culture. It features 40 photographic panels of photographs and text about Queen Marie of Romania. The exhibition has been presented at the National Museum of Cotroceni and National Museum of Bran, in an outside exhibition at the Sfatului Square from Brasov, Unirii Square from Oradea and Unirii Square from Rasnov. It was displayed at the second Annual Gala of Romanian Professionals Society in Philadelphia in March 2019, in Chicago for the Romanian Traditional Blouse Day festivities and most recently at the new Romanian Cultural Center in St. Paul.