“Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday.” [Original Edith Head Signed Costume Sketch].

HEAD, Edith. [Audrey Hepburn].

$15,000.00

Item Number: 145841

Rare original sketch by Academy Award-winning costume designer Edith Head for the ball gown worn by Audrey Hepburn in her breakout role as Princess Ann in William Wyler’s classic 1953 comedy, Roman Holiday. Design for Paramount Pictures, circa 1953. Gouache sketch on paper with added white. Signed and annotated by the designer, “Audrey Hepburn in ‘Roman Holiday’ Edith Head.” The dress appears in the opening scene of the film, when the Princess is shown in newsreels greeting and dancing with dignitaries at an official reception. According to an interview with Head broadcast just after the film’s release, she made two regal costumes for the scene, one black gown and this silver brocade. Head explained that she ultimately chose the present silver dress because it was “a little more photographic, a little gayer.” Head won her fifth of eight Academy Awards in costume design for her work on the film. In fine condition. Double matted and framed. The sketch measures 20.75 inches by 14.25 inches. The entire piece measures 28.5 by 21.5 inches.

Directed and produced by William Wyler, Roman Holiday opened the 14th Venice International Film Festival on August 20, 1953. The film featured Audrey Hepburn in her first starring role as Princess Ann, a European princess who escapes the reins of royalty and has a wild night out with an American newsman played by Gregory Peck. Hepburn won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film; it also received Academy Awards for Best Costume Design (Edith Head) and Best Story (Dalton Trumbo).