Romance Was Born are known for their unusual creative eye, citing obscure and unique references and inspiration for their collections, that come to life through their vivid print art. This season ‘Lil Lord Fauntleroy’ is their collection inspired by the Johnston Collection, Staffordshire porcelain figurines and Frances Hodgson Burnett’s heartwarming rags to riches tale of the innocent Little Lord Fauntleroy.
Working with the Fairhall Museum in Melbourne, the duo selected some pieces from the museum’s extensive range of antique furniture and decorative arts, which they reworking into a series of prints, featuring Staffordshire figures and vignettes and the intricate patterns of the delicate chinaware kept at Fairhall.
Romance Was Born explains the creative process in developing their print art:
“This china-derived chintz forms a delightful posy of verdant florals which blossom in buttercup yellow, blush in rose and bloom prettily in forget-me-not blue their fragile beauty is offset by the commanding contrast of navy, red, black and white. Chancing upon Burnett’s story of Little Lord Fauntleroy, Romance Was Born were influenced by the costume of the young Earl for the cut and line of the season evoking his childlike grace in an array of fancy blouses, neat sweetheart collars and ruffled yokes.
A second chance encounter lead them to the work of Sydney artist Phil James whose Untitled work features as the hero of the collection. His cheeky reworking of this found vintage print that is itself a reproduction of Thomas Gainsborough’s painting “The Blue Boy” is a stroke of genius and luck as it so often associated with looking like Little Lord Fauntleroy. Romance Was Born embrace the joy of a sweet young boy’s fortune found which is more than a mere homage to the Little Lord Fauntleroy it is a complete re interpretation.”
