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International Inspiration: The Donald and Joan Damask Collection

Start Date 26 June 2014
End Date 01 November 2014
Venue Museum at Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising
Location Los Angeles, USA
Curator Christina Johnson
Exhibition display of dressed mannequins

Donald and Joan Damask have devoted their lives to creating and collecting outstanding design. Their professional lives have focused on luxury marketing and fashion; their collecting vision serves as inspiration for this work and resonates with their shared personal aesthetic.

Residents of Newport Beach, California, the Damasks donated much of their design collection to the FIDM Museum in the summer of 2013. Included in their gift are over 75 pieces of vintage clothing and world dress; seminal photographs by high-fashion photographers Willy Maywald (1907-85) and Horst P. Horst (1906-99); over 80 photographs, sketches, and books by artist-aesthete Cecil Beaton (1904-80), theatrical designs by Erté (1892-1990), and many limited edition and rare books. International Inspiration contains highlights from this outstanding gift.

“We decided to donate our beloved collections to the FIDM Museum because it was time to share them with other people. We got great enjoyment out of collecting and we want people to feel the same kind of excitement. Through these collections, we are sharing knowledge.” Donald and Joan Damask, 2014.

Image courtesy of FIDM Museum Library.