Art of fashion

Capturing the intricacies of a luxury fashion item - say, an elaborate corset embroidered with gold thread and completely covered with Swarovski crystals, topaz and garnets - isn't easy, even for world-renowned portraitist Nelson Shanks.

The light must be just so for the artist to catch the gleam of the jewels and the folds of the red duchess satin. The brushstrokes must be exactly correct, or as Shanks says, "the paint must be pushed" to capture the richness of the textures.

That is why when Shanks - who has committed the images of William Jefferson Clinton, Ronald Reagan and Princess Diana to canvas - learned that Smithsonian Network producers wanted to film him painting, he chose the scarlet undergarment to show the depths of his talent.

"I thought it should have been in a museum, so I grabbed it before it got there," Shanks said as he finished up lunch at his home in Bucks County Monday afternoon. The painter is being included in a documentary on presidential portraitists.

"It looked like it should be in one of those cases [that hold the Crown Jewels] at the Tower of London."

The Eketrina Corset is the work of New York-based designer Maggie Norris. It was designed in 2003 as part of a collection inspired by Russian crowns that debuted at the U.S. Russian Consulate in New York City.

Since then, the size 4 undergarment has been on display in the Bergdorf Goodman window and photographed on actress Reese Witherspoon for InStyle Magazine. The $25,000 corset was also featured on models for the Designers for Darfur benefit during the Fall 2007 shows at New York's Fashion Week.

"I just wanted to make the most beautiful corset in the world," said Norris, who spent 13 years working for Ralph Lauren.

Norris' clothes have been photographed on Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Aniston and Sharon Stone. This year, Norris introduced corset blouses into her ready-to-wear collection, which is sold locally at Joan Shepp.

She hopes that Shanks' reproduction of the corset will be a step toward marrying classic painting styles with modern-day fashion, to capture still-life elements beyond the point of a typical camera.

Whether or not that happens as a result of a Smithsonian documentary on presidential artists is yet to be determined. But it will have more to do with the sociological climate - and good public relations - than Shanks' skill.

The 69-year-old artist's work is most accurately described as modern-day realism. His museum-size canvases are more detailed than the clearest high-definition digital photographs and are often compared to the work of another American painter, John Singer Sargent.

Shanks' ability to paint light as it bounces off velvet, as well as details shown in the clarity of eyes and wisps of hair, is a testament to the influence of Renaissance masters. The works of those and Italian baroque painters, including Francesco Solimena, Sebastiano Ricci, and Volterrano, hang in his foyer.

These days, it seems Shanks does have a particular interest in painting fashion, mostly because of the richness of the textures. His portfolio now includes eccentric designer Mary McFadden; Philadelphia-based interior designer Barbara Eberlein; and Jenny Taubman, the wife of the U.S. ambassador to Romania, who is also a clothing designer.

Of course, his regular subjects continue to be the powerful and famous (and rich, although Shanks wouldn't reveal how much he charges for a painting). He completed a painting of Luciano Pavarotti, whom he painted three times, sending an image via e-mail a few days before the opera singer died. And Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia recently stayed at his home for a sitting. Other subjects will include opera singer Renée Fleming and former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Besides the Smithsonian documentary, which has no firm air date, Shanks' work will soon be compiled in a book by Rizzoli publishing (which is also known for its fashion-oriented coffee-table books).

On this Monday afternoon, Shanks' model is the Irish-born Kiera Chaplin, the granddaughter of comedic actor Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin, who has modeled for both Tommy Hilfiger and Giorgio Armani fashion campaigns, is wearing Tag jeans and sneakers, as well as the corset.

The spaghetti strap on Chaplin's left shoulder hangs loosely over a tattoo. Shanks has no intention of painting into his work, preferring to leave the corset in its quasi-Victorian state.

"I thought the corset was just beautiful," Shanks said. "This was just the most perfect project for it . . . perfect."