Yvonne Blake - Costume design for the film “Music of Yesterday”
Handwritten inscription by the artist, in pencil, in the upper right corner: “ ‘Música de Ayer’ - / Doña Lola - 3 - and 5 - / Manager's Office / of Apolo and Laura's Dressing Room -”. “Wool or scarf - / Braids -”. Signed and dated 1958 in the lower right corner. Dimensions: 351 x 251 mm. This drawing features a small swatch of fabric pinned to the sheet, related to the costumes designed by Blake.
Costume sketch for a female character in the Spanish film *Música de Ayer*, released in 1958 and directed by Juan de Orduña, produced by Producciones Orduña Films, in which Ana María Olaria plays the lead role of Laura Gayán.
This women’s costume design must be the one that appears in the office of the Apolo Theater’s manager, following the car ride during which the tango song “El automóvil, mamá, es una cosa” is performed by Saturnino M. Navarro in 1920, with lyrics by Carlos Arniches and another composer.
Blake is remembered as the designer of the Superman costume (directed by Richard Donner, 1978) worn by Christopher Reeve; the filming was plagued by issues related to the fabric and color tones of the fictional hero’s outfit.
She won four Goya Awards in Spain for Best Costume Design for *Remando al viento* (1988), *Canción de cuna* (1994), *Carmen* (2003), and *El puente de San Luis Rey* (2004).
Her film costume designs appeared in movies starring prominent actors and actresses such as Sophia Loren (*The Venus of Anger* in Israel, directed by Daniel Mann, 1966), Liza Minnelli (*Fahrenheit 451*, directed by François Truffaut), Michael Caine and Omar Sharif (The Last Valley, directed by James Clavell), Anthony Hopkins (All Creatures Great and Small), Elizabeth Taylor (An Hour in the Night), Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn (Robin and Marian), Ava Gardner (Harem), Al Pacino (Looking for Richard), not to mention his significant contribution to the musical Jesus Christ Superstar (by Andrew Lloyd Webber).
She collaborated with the prestigious Peris Hermanos fashion house, beginning in the 1960s, on the final production of their designs. With Gonzalo Suárez, she worked on *Remando al viento*, *Don Juan en los infiernos*, *La reina anónima*, and *El detective y la muerte*; with Vicente Aranda, she worked on *Carmen* and *Tirante el Blanco*.
Although she was not an actress, she was the first woman to be awarded the National Film Award in 2012 and served as President of the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AACCE) in 2016. She passed away in Madrid in July 2018.
Handwritten inscription by the artist, in pencil, in the upper right corner: “ ‘Música de Ayer’ - / Doña Lola - 3 - and 5 - / Manager's Office / of Apolo and Laura's Dressing Room -”. “Wool or scarf - / Braids -”. Signed and dated 1958 in the lower right corner. Dimensions: 351 x 251 mm. This drawing features a small swatch of fabric pinned to the sheet, related to the costumes designed by Blake.
Costume sketch for a female character in the Spanish film *Música de Ayer*, released in 1958 and directed by Juan de Orduña, produced by Producciones Orduña Films, in which Ana María Olaria plays the lead role of Laura Gayán.
This women’s costume design must be the one that appears in the office of the Apolo Theater’s manager, following the car ride during which the tango song “El automóvil, mamá, es una cosa” is performed by Saturnino M. Navarro in 1920, with lyrics by Carlos Arniches and another composer.
Blake is remembered as the designer of the Superman costume (directed by Richard Donner, 1978) worn by Christopher Reeve; the filming was plagued by issues related to the fabric and color tones of the fictional hero’s outfit.
She won four Goya Awards in Spain for Best Costume Design for *Remando al viento* (1988), *Canción de cuna* (1994), *Carmen* (2003), and *El puente de San Luis Rey* (2004).
Her film costume designs appeared in movies starring prominent actors and actresses such as Sophia Loren (*The Venus of Anger* in Israel, directed by Daniel Mann, 1966), Liza Minnelli (*Fahrenheit 451*, directed by François Truffaut), Michael Caine and Omar Sharif (The Last Valley, directed by James Clavell), Anthony Hopkins (All Creatures Great and Small), Elizabeth Taylor (An Hour in the Night), Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn (Robin and Marian), Ava Gardner (Harem), Al Pacino (Looking for Richard), not to mention his significant contribution to the musical Jesus Christ Superstar (by Andrew Lloyd Webber).
She collaborated with the prestigious Peris Hermanos fashion house, beginning in the 1960s, on the final production of their designs. With Gonzalo Suárez, she worked on *Remando al viento*, *Don Juan en los infiernos*, *La reina anónima*, and *El detective y la muerte*; with Vicente Aranda, she worked on *Carmen* and *Tirante el Blanco*.
Although she was not an actress, she was the first woman to be awarded the National Film Award in 2012 and served as President of the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AACCE) in 2016. She passed away in Madrid in July 2018.
