"Former British espionage worker on Vogue staff" announced the Herald Journal when the American fashion magazine hired Brian Stonehouse in 1952. Though the title of the piece was intriguingly shocking it was actually true, the illustrator had indeed been a spy during World War II.
Born in 1918 in England, Brian Stonehouse went to art school and by 1938 he already produced fashion drawings, but his career was interrupted by the war. He signed up for military service in 1939, becoming three years later part of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), an elite group of men and women trained to infiltrate Nazi Europe and coordinate sabotage of the German War Effort from within.
After a long training he was sent as a British spy in France to aid the resistance movement and he did so under a cover, pretending of being a French art student, Michel Chapuis. His secret weapon was a B2 suitcase radio disguised as an artist's paint box.
When the Gestapo arrested him, Stonehouse told them he was a French art student working for Vogue, a lie that became true ten years later.
Stonehouse was frequently interrogated and tortured in the following months and transferred to a concentration camp in Germany in 1943 and later on to Mauthausen. An SS guard assigned him to do portraits of officers and their wives, but the artist was moved to other concentration camps, ending up in Dachau.
Stonehouse was finally liberated in April 1945, but it was only after the Nuremberg trials that he was able to move on with his life: he returned to England and then moved to the States where he became a portrait artist.
In 1952 he was hired by Vogue becoming one of the first illustrators hired by the fashion magazine in a decade. Together with "Eric" (Carl Erickson 1891-1958) and Rene Bouché (1905-1963), Stonehouse visually chronicled the rise of new designers and the arrival on the fashion scene of exciting styles.
From 1952 to 1962 he rose to fame, working as portraitist and fashion illustrator, while regularly doing adverts for Saks Fifth Avenue, B. Altman, Lord & Taylor and Gimbels, and developing a close association with Elizabeth Arden. Stonehouse completed his last sketch for Vogue in October 1962. He had worked closely with Editor-in-Chief Jessica Dave but her successor Diana Vreeland preferred photography.
In 1979 Stonehouse returned to England where he focused on his career as a painter and also did a portrait of the Queen Mother. He died in 1998.
At the moment an exhibition in London is rediscovering his work, giving the chance to visitors to buy some of his sketches. "Brian Stonehouse MBE (1918-1998) - WWII SOE Agent and American Vogue Fashion Illustrator 1952-1963" (through 22nd December) at Abbot and Holder features his Estate's works from the high days of fashion illustration.
The drawings and sketches show that Stonehouse's style was characterised by fluid and flowing lines and silhouettes that were slightly reminiscent of early René Gruau works.
Throughout his career, Stonehouse worked on editorial and advertisements, drawing men, women and children's fashion, innerwear and outerwear. Yet his best illustrations in this event (quite often from 1955) show elegant models in chic clothes and delicate poses. At times loose strokes and brushes in the background highlight the figure in the forefront, in other cases the models are quickly outlined in pencils, their clothes and accessories emphasised with splashes of bold colours such as tomato red and orange. Some of his most intriguing illustrations show ethereal models half traced, as if they were evanescent fashion ghosts.
Stonehouse didn't rise to fame maybe because he never developed an extremely distinctive style or maybe because he had to compete with more established and more famous illustrators. When photography displaced illustration, his contribution to fashion was somehow lost in the folds of time.
Yet it is definitely worth rediscovering him (and maybe buying a drawing if you are a fashion collector and have the money to do so) for his fashion illustrations and for his adventurous life.
Stonehouse survived indeed torture, solitary confinement, a death sentence, slave labour and several concentration camps and those who will dig into his life will discover that The Imperial War Museum and Dachau Museum hold the drawings he made while at the Dachau camp and at the War Crimes Tribunals. In a way, the beauty of fashion and the joy of panting must have acted like therapy for Stonehouse, helping him to leave behind the dark horrors of the war.
Image credits for his post
1. For Cocktails or the Theatre, black silk cut to a deep V at the neckline with below the elbow sleeves and its own waist-cincher. By Jr. Sophisticates. $50 from Bloomingdale's and other stores. Gouache and fibre-tip pen on grey paper. Ill: "Young Colour Plans: Use a Priming Coat", p.162 15.8.1952 issue, American Vogue. Provenance: TThe artist's estate. Stamped "Stonehouse Estate / A and H" verso. 18x15 inches (irregular)
2. A Black and Red Priming Coat of black wool alpaca reversible to red velveteen … by Aintree with Merrimack velveteen, about $75 plus tax. Gouache, ink and fibre-tip pen on grey paper. Stamped verso "V9719". This coat illustrated "Young Colour Plans – Using a Priming Coat", p.163, 15.8.1952 Issue, American Vogue. Stonehouse bought this cloak for his sister Margot and it remains in the artist’s family. Provenance: The artist's estate. Stamped "Stonehouse Estate / A and H" verso. 23x12.75 inches (irregular). £3000.
3. A Checked and Belted Jacket. Gouache, watercolour and fibre-tip pen on cream paper. Circa 1955. For an American fashion magazine, probably Vogue. Provenance: The artist's estate. Stamped "Stonehouse Estate / A and H" verso. 22.25x16.25 inches. £2250.
4. A Full, pale Blue Skirt and Black Top. Gouache, ink and fibre-tip pen on sketchbook page. Circa 1955. For an American fashion magazine, probably Vogue. Provenance: The artist’s estate. Stamped "Stonehouse Estate / A and H" verso. 23.5x17 inches (irregular). £1750.
5. Shorts and a Sleeveless Top. Gouache and a fibre-tip pen on grey paper. Signed. Circa 1955. For an American fashion magazine, probably Vogue. Provenance: The artist's estate. Stamped "Stonehouse Estate / A and H" verso. 22.25x14.75 inches (irregular). £1750.
6. Gold Necklace and Green Top. Gouache and fibre-tip pen on grey paper. Circa 1955. For an American fashion magazine, probably Vogue. Provenance: The artist's estate. Stamped "Stonehouse Estate / A and H" verso. 19.25x12.5 inches (irregular). £2250.
7. Orange Red Coat and Black Skirt. Gouache, ink and fibre-tip pen. Circa 1955. For an American fashion magazine, probably Vogue. Provenance: The artist’s estate. Stamped ‘Stonehouse Estate / A and H’ verso. 21x11.5 inches (irregular). £2250.
8. A Full Skirt and Sleeveless Top, back view. Gouache, ink and fibre-tip pen. Circa 1955. For an American fashion magazine, probably Vogue. Provenance: The artist's estate. Stamped "Stonehouse Estate / A and H" verso. 23x11.5 inches (irregular). £1750.
9. Black and White Checked Jacket. Gouache, ink and fibre-tip pen on pink paper. Circa 1958. For an American fashion magazine, probably Vogue. Provenance: The artist's estate. Stamped "Stonehouse Estate / A and H" verso. 23x14 inches (irregular). £2500.
10. Winter Overcoats. Ink and gouache on tan paper. Circa 1960. For an American fashion magazine, probably Vogue. Provenance: The artist’s estate. The artist's estate. Stamped "Stonehouse Estate / A and H" verso. 29.75x21 inches. £3000.
11. Full Red Skirt and Black Top. Gouache, chalk and ink on grey paper. Circa 1960. For an American fashion magazine, probably Vogue. Provenance: The artist’s estate.The artist's estate. Stamped "Stonehouse Estate / A and H" verso. 23.25x14 inches (irregular). £2250.
12. Flying In to Palm Beach. Gouache, charcoal and fibre-tip pen on grey paper. Illustrated ‘Shop Hound … in Palm Beach’, p’s 88-91, 1.2.1962 Issue, American Vogue. Provenance: The artist's estate. Stamped "Stonehouse Estate / A and H" verso. 18.75x16 inches. £3000.
Comments