Greta Garbo. the mystery of style portrays the actress from a standpoint that, beginning with her films and moving beyond them, the authentic Garbo behind the mysterious woman, occasionally captured by a lucky paparazzo who happened to be at the right place at the right time, as she walked by wrapped up in a raincoat, the brim of her hat low on her head,wearing dark sunglasses. Despite her decision to withdraw from Hollywood, Garbo was never forgotten. It is through her personal style, which was once considered so simple as to be unassuming, and which today would be called minimal, that we glimpse the strong will and originality that makes her such a contemporary figure.

The show begins with a selection of film costumes recovered from the institutes, museums and private collections that have preserved them since the dispersion of the MGM warehouses. The recovered pieces include a stunning dress with embroidered neckline worn in Inspiration, on loan from Drexel University in Philadelphia, and the dress worn in Queen Christina (from the Museum at FIT). One section is devoted to Garbo’s face, which Roland Barthes called an idea. Garbo was photographed by the portrait photographer Clarence Sinclair Bull, among others, and Cecil Beaton shot Garbo’s celebrated passport photo.