Isabelle de Borchgrave facts for kids

Isabelle de Borchgrave exhibition in Kalmar Castle

Isabelle de Borchgrave d'Altena was a talented Belgian artist. She was known for her bright paintings and amazing paper sculptures. She created detailed paper clothes and art you could even wear! Isabelle was married to Count Werner de Borchgrave d'Altena. She passed away in October 2024 at the age of 78.

Early Life and Art Studies

Isabelle Jeanne Marie Alice Jacobs was born in Brussels, Belgium, in 1946. She didn't really like school. So, at just 14 years old, she left to study art. She first went to the Centre des Arts Décoratifs. Later, she continued her studies at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. After finishing her art training, Isabelle worked in advertising for a short time. She then started making clothes for her friends. Soon, she moved into interior design. She eventually opened her own studio. There, she designed dresses, scarves, jewelry, and especially fabrics.

Creating Art with Paper

Isabelle de Borchgrave's career changed a lot after a trip in 1994. She visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This visit inspired her to start designing costumes made from paper! She created four big collections. All of them were made of paper and used a special art trick called trompe-l'œil. This trick makes flat things look like they have depth. Each collection showed a very different world.

Famous Paper Collections

Her first collection was called "Papiers à la Mode," which means "Paper in Fashion." She worked with a Canadian costume designer named Rita Brown on this. It showed 300 years of fashion history. This included styles from Queen Elizabeth I to Coco Chanel.

Her next collection, "Mariano Fortuny," explored the world of 19th-century Venice. It focused on elegant pleated fabrics and veils.

"I Medici" was an amazing trompe-l'œil display. It featured famous people from Florence during the Renaissance. They wore detailed ceremonial dresses. These dresses looked like they had gold braiding, pearls, silk, and velvet.

Finally, she created a collection for Sergei Diaghilev's "Ballets Russes." This honored the famous ballet producer. It also paid tribute to artists like Pablo Picasso, Léon Bakst, and Henri Matisse. These artists designed costumes for the ballet company.

Exhibitions and Special Creations

A very important moment for Isabelle was her 1998 exhibition. It was called "Papier à la Mode" and took place in France. It showed thirty life-size outfits made entirely of painted paper. The New York Times newspaper called it "pure delight." This exhibition traveled to France, the United States, and Asia. As it moved, Isabelle added more costumes. She included outfits from Queen Elizabeth I, Marie Antoinette, and the Empress Eugénie. When the exhibition was in Japan, she added more pieces. In Turkey, she added Ottoman kaftans.

Borchgrave d'Altena family coat of arms

Over the years, Isabelle made many different paper creations. She made an elaborate headdress shaped like a ship for Marie Antoinette. She also created huge paper roses for John Galliano's fashion show for Christian Dior. She even made a delicate, white wedding dress train for Princess Annemarie of Bourbon-Parma.

Isabelle was also asked to recreate Jackie Bouvier's wedding gown. This was for the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston. She said the original silk dress was very old and fragile. "The original is dead," she recalled, "but the paper one brings it to life again." In 2004, she designed a beautiful paper dress for Queen Fabiola of Belgium. The queen wore it to a royal wedding in Madrid.

In 2008, Isabelle had an exhibition at the Fortuny Museum in Venice. It was called "A World of Paper: Isabelle de Borchgrave Meets Mariano Fortuny." It filled three floors of a historic palace. She created versions of Fortuny's famous pleated "Delphos" dress. She also made robes, shoes, and other items, all from painted paper.

Her Artistic Process

Isabelle's art usually starts with large sheets of paper. They are about 1 by 1.5 meters (about 3 by 5 feet). She works on them with her brushes and paints. She has a huge linen-covered table in her studio in Brussels. Her colors are often inspired by her travels. She uses reds from Turkish roses and blues from Greece. She creates amazing effects with color, weight, and texture. Her paper versions of thin, see-through fabrics are especially impressive.

In 2011, a big exhibition called "Pulp Fashion: The Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave" opened. It was at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. The museum's director called it "pure poetry" and "the coolest thing I've ever seen."

Isabelle also designed patterns for party items. These were sold at the American store, Target. Her work is collected by many museums and private art lovers.

Personal Life

Isabelle Jacobs married Count Werner de Borchgrave d'Altena in 1975. They had two children together. They lived in Brussels, Belgium.

Museum Exhibitions

Isabelle de Borchgrave's work has been shown in many museums around the world:

• 2018: "Fashioning Art from Paper" at the Frick Art & Historical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• 2010: A paper dress by Isabelle was in "Extending the Runway: Tatiana Sorokko Style." This was at the Phoenix Art Museum in Arizona.
• 2008: "Rêves de Papier - Isabelle de Borchgrave interprète Mariano Fortuny" opened at the Musée des Tissus in Lyon.
• 2007: Paper sculptures were shown at the "Decorative Arts of the Kings" exhibition. This was at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia.
• 1998: "Papiers à la Mode" at the Musée de l'Impression sur Etoffes in Mulhouse, France.