14 - Yvonne Blake - Costume sketch for José Antonio and the Ballets Españoles - Costume sketch for the show "Los Ballets Españoles," a recreation of iconic Spanish dance costumes.

Yvonne Blake - Costume sketch for José Antonio and the Ballets Españoles - Costume sketch for the show "Los Ballets Españoles," a recreation of iconic Spanish dance costumes. Inscribed in the upper left corner: “LOS BALLETS ESPAÑOLES”; in the center, toward the right: “fuchsia satin (?) / velvet / dark”; below that, “red raw silk.” Signed and dated in the lower right corner: “Yvonne Blake / 1993.” Framed in period frame with original glass. Yvonne Blake worked for the company José Antonio y los Ballets Españoles, founded and directed by the renowned dancer José Antonio (José Antonio Ruiz de la Cruz, Madrid, 1951), creating costume designs for works such as *Aires de villa y corte*, with original music by José Nieto, which premiered at the Teatro Lope de Vega in Seville on January 28, 1994. The renowned film and theater costume designer Yvonne Blake (Manchester, 1940 – Madrid, 2018) won her Academy Award at the 44th ceremony for Best Costume Design for the film *Nicholas and Alexandra* (directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, 1971), the same ceremony at which Charlie Chaplin received his Honorary Oscar. Blake is remembered as the designer of the Superman costume (directed by Richard Donner, 1978) worn by Christopher Reeve; the filming of which was plagued by difficulties caused by the fabrics and colors of the fictional hero’s attire. She won four Goya Awards in Spain for Best Costume Design for *Remando al viento* (1988), *Canción de cuna* (1994), *Carmen* (2003), and *El puente de San Luis Rey* (2004). Her film costume designs appeared in movies starring prominent actors and actresses such as Sophia Loren (*The Venus of Anger* in Israel, directed by Daniel Mann, 1966), Liza Minnelli (*Fahrenheit 451*, directed by François Truffaut), Michael Caine and Omar Sharif (The Last Valley, directed by James Clavell), Anthony Hopkins (All Creatures Great and Small), Elizabeth Taylor (An Hour in the Night), Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn (Robin and Marian), Ava Gardner (Harem), Al Pacino (Looking for Richard), not to mention his notable role in the musical *Jesus Christ Superstar* (by Andrew Lloyd Webber). She collaborated with the prestigious Peris Hermanos fashion house, beginning in the 1960s, on the final production of her designs. With Gonzalo Suárez, she worked on *Rowing Against the Wind*, *Don Juan in Hell*, *The Anonymous Queen*, and *The Detective and Death*; with Vicente Aranda, on *Carmen* and *Tirante el Blanco*. Although she was not an actress, she was the first woman to be awarded the National Film Award in 2012 and served as President of the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AACCE) in 2016. She passed away in Madrid in July 2018.