"My art influences are varied and change a lot," says fashion
illustrator Kelly Beeman, citing the 1930s Neue Sachlichkeit portraits
of German painters Christian Schad and Otto Dix as favorite
influences. And in her new book "Window Shopping," which is being
released by Edition Patrick Frey during New York Fashion Week in
February, the protagonists of her watercolors, mostly women, bear
the beguiling almond-shaped features of a Modigliani and inhabit the
pattern-saturated world of a Matisse.
"The narratives are usually about everyday life and mundane
things happening in vaguely familiar places," says New York-based
Beeman—although, as in the pages of a magazine, they've been
exquisitely styled in the clothing often featured in her titles: At the
Piano in Dior, for instance, or Katie and Her Japanese Fighting Fish,
In Saint Laurent Party Dress. A self-taught painter, Beeman had
WINDOW SHOPPER
We peek into illustrator Kelly Beeman's exquisitely dressed fantasy world—think
Saint Laurent, Dior, Valentino—and get a preview of her debut book.
BY JANELLE ZARA
92 BAL HARBOUR
Kelly Beeman's affinity for sensual and expressive
fashion illustrations has brought about commissions from
brands like J.W. Anderson, Tory Burch and Elie Saab.
COURTESY
OF
EDITION
PATRICK
FREY
