Annabelle Ténèze, now Director of the Musée du Louvre-Lens, has curated a new exhibition titled 'The Art of Dressing – Dressing like an Artist' at the museum. The show explores how artists from Rembrandt to Warhol use clothing and self-fashioning in their self-portraits and public personas, drawing on examples such as Niki de Saint Phalle's eccentric wardrobe and Rembrandt's deliberate sartorial choices. Ténèze was inspired by her earlier work on de Saint Phalle at Les Abattoirs in Toulouse and by Charlie Porter's book 'What Artists Wear'.
The exhibition matters because it shifts the focus from what artists actually wore to what they chose to be portrayed wearing, revealing deeper motivations about identity, social status, and artistic legacy. By examining self-portraits across centuries—from Rembrandt's theatrical turbans to contemporary artists' media appearances—the show underscores how clothing has long been a strategic tool for artists to shape their public image and align themselves with historical or cultural archetypes. This thematic approach offers fresh insight into the intersection of art history and fashion, a topic increasingly relevant in today's image-conscious culture.