Carla van de Puttelaar

Beginning in the spring of 2017, Dutch photographer Carla van de Puttelaar began work on a new and timely portraiture series devoted to highlighting prominent and promising women in the international art world. Artfully Dressed: Women in the Art World is the profound culmination of these ongoing efforts.

Bringing together a powerful group of over 250 women, this vibrant collection of portraits unites these women in their brilliance and strength. Together they represent a wide range of backgrounds, nationalities, careers, ages, and expertise. Whether graced in the haute couture traditions of the world’s top designers, donned in ornate and billowing period costumes, dressed in seemingly outmoded vintage garments, or wrapped in almost otherworldly, luxurious materials, this book showcases a global ensemble of dynamic art-world women, illuminating and complimenting their achievements and wildly distinct personalities, all by framing them in fabric.

Informed by the high contrast, chiaroscuro-like technique of her own past studio projects, van de Puttelaar’s series is an important document of the present time of women in the art world.

Carla van de Puttelaar opens our awareness to the sensitivity and sensuality of skin. The female body has long been the main subject of her photography, and her models appear poised and aloof, with chilled skin lit by natural light, one of Van de Puttelaars most important tools and assets one which she harnesses with incredible deftness.

She also examines the skin and texture of flowers in her Hortus Nocturnum series, particularly those about to fade. Adornments comprises a new collection of photographs, where images of flowers and trees are juxtaposed with the faces and bodies of women, capturing Galateas and Ophelias, conjuring Rembrandt and Maria Austria.

The intimate and delicate nude portraits of this Dutch photographer are characterised by an alienating sensuality. This new series of images, in which Van de Puttelaar depicts women in full length for the first time while retaining every breathtaking detail of their skin, draws its inspiration from the painters Cranach and Botticelli.