“Goth pulls from that aspect of Romanticism that embraced the slightly uncivilized and the sublime,” Ms. Bassett said, “when things in the present are upended.”Ī pair of Goth-inspired ensembles from Jean Paul Gaultier uses black fabrics with blood-red flocking (a jeans and jacket combination is titled “Vampire Suit”). Like Romanticism, Steampunk, which evolved in the late 1980s out of a fascination with Victorian science fiction, was fueled by an idealized conception of earlier times, in this case the late 19th century, when industry was powered by steam. The section displays two Steampunk outfits created in 2013 by Nightwing Whitehead. The puffed and slashed sleeves of a 1984 gown designed by the Parisian couturier Hélène Hayes recall Renaissance fashions, while its draped skirt suggests the 18th-century style “polonaise.” A stunning beaded velvet and satin dress was part of Alexander McQueen’s 2007 collection “In Memory of Elizabeth Howe, Salem, 1692,” a tribute to an ancestor. The exhibition culminates with “Romantic Revivals,” which features the era’s aesthetics reimagined for contemporary tastes. Church, Cole and other artists coalesced in the Hudson River School, known for landscapes that glorified the wilderness. The portrait hangs in the “Nature and the Picturesque” section, not far from Frederic Edwin Church’s “Niagara Falls,” painted in 1856, and a vitrine holding a copy of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Nature.” Emerson’s 1836 essay laid the foundation for transcendentalism, a philosophy that sought to find God in the contemplation of nature. One of those layers was the veneration of nature. And you have roses on the table and a scene of nature in the background. There are books - she’s intelligent and educated, a good mother forming the minds of her children. “She’s a good housewife, doing her knitting. “There she is in her Gothic Revival chair, very pious in her demure black dress with a cross at her neck,” she said. Bassett, standing beside the work, explained that the composition offered a conglomeration of Romantic values. Abbott Lawrence (Katherine Bigelow),” circa 1855, the subject sits knitting, her gaze meeting the viewer’s. Bassett wrote, “The resulting silhouette made women into walking, talking Gothic arches.”īut not all women. Describing the look in her catalog essay, Ms. During the 1840s, dresses, too, adapted to the trend: sleeves became narrower, shoulders sloped and waists elongated into a point.

Here, a stoneware jug, glass pickling jar and wooden chair are all embellished with Gothic arch motifs.

Velvet cloaks and capes