Explore the captivating story of a princess in exile who played an influential role in European and American arts and culture in the special exhibition From Exile to Avant-garde: The Life of Princess Natalie Paley, on view at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens from June 7, 2025 through January 11, 2026.

Natalie Paley (1905-1981) was a complex figure of the twentieth century, recognized for her contributions to fashion, film, culture, and society. A descendant of the Romanov dynasty, she rose from her family’s fabled and tragic history and left a stylish and indelible mark on the century’s culture and design. Her legacy can be seen in twentieth-century innovations from French couture collections and Parisian and Hollywood film roles to characters inspired by her personality and Surrealist portraits capturing her beauty. This special exhibition will be the first to explore the exceptional glamour and enigmatic life of this legendary woman.

“Natalie Paley was a creative figure with a talent for elegant reinvention—muse, model, fashion design collaborator, business director, actor, producer’s wife, and confidant to writers and poets, among others,” said Kate Markert, Hillwood’s executive director. “We are excited to bring this fascinating character to life, highlighting her influence on fashion, the arts, film, and literature, which forms her legacy.”

Natalie Paley

Born to Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich (1860-1919), uncle of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, and Princess Olga Valerianovna (1865-1929), Princess Natalia Pavlovna Paley enjoyed an idyllic childhood in Boulogne-sur-Seine, France, just outside of Paris. Her parents lived in French exile, due to their forbidden union, and they made the most of their fin de siècle surroundings, entertaining, collecting, and shopping as ultimate tastemakers. When the family’s anticipated return to Russia in 1914 led to the tragic execution of her father and brother by the Bolsheviks, Paley escaped back to France with her mother and sister.

Paley reinvented herself and emerged in the 1920s as the wife of French couturier Lucien Lelong (1889-1958), becoming the focus of every fashion photographer in Paris and beyond, from Steichen and Man Ray to Horst and Hoyningen-Huene. As a confidant, visionary, and companion to artists, designers, and writers such as Jean Cocteau, Serge Lifar, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Fulco di Verdura, and Cecil Beaton, Paley was known for her exquisite taste, someone ethereal and glamorous who dictated her own fashion trends. She embodied the cool, discrete Hollywood allure of the 1930s, appearing in several fashionable feature films before moving to America. Her relocation here heralded a new transformation: Paley married the successful New York theater producer John C. “Jack” Wilson (1889-1961) in 1937 and soon began working for the fashion designer Mainbocher. Paley and Wilson built a close community of fashion designers, editors, actors, photographers, writers, and other talents from their homes in New York and Connecticut, leading to many important collaborations and cultural connections of the twentieth century.

The Paley-Romanov Collection

Hillwood’s 2022 acquisition of pieces that once belonged to Paley and the Romanovs, including imperial portraits, rare linens, and important archival documentation from five generations of the family, inspired this exhibition. Among the 335 new items are photos, letters, drawings, poems, a souvenir album, and news clippings of and relating to Natalie Paley, providing further insight into her life and painting a greater portrait of this iconic woman. With these additions, Hillwood maintains the largest assemblage of Romanov and Paley material outside Russia. From Exile to Avant-garde will explore her life through key items from this acquisition alongside pieces from Hillwood’s collection, including Sèvres porcelain, eighteenth-century glassware, and pieces from Fabergé.

Exhibition Organization and Highlights

From Exile to Avant-garde: The Life of Princess Natalie Paley will present an array of photographs, documents, paintings, decorative art objects, fashion, jewelry, glassware, and more. Organized into seven sections, the exhibition will begin with a focus on Paley and her family in Gilded Age Paris, exploring the artistic environment in which the young princess grew up, before highlighting her influential role in the arts as a muse of fashion creators, photographers, tastemakers, and writers. Hillwood provides the perfect setting as founder Marjorie Merriweather Post collected and preserved treasures from Paley’s imperial Russian lineage and patronized many of the same designers and photographers.

The exhibition will open with an introduction and timeline before sharing the background of the Paley family, particularly highlighting the love story of Princess Natalie’s parents, Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich and Princess Olga Valerianovna. Photos, miniatures, and more will lay the foundation for the rest of the exhibition.

Next will be a look into the Paleys’ life in exile, revealing Paris during the Belle Époque and the social life of Olga Paley. Portraits, photographs, and decorative art objects alongside fashion and incredible jewelry pieces highlight the lifestyle of the Paleys during this time and the world that shaped the development of young Natalie.

The family returned to Russia in 1914, and a selection of family photographs, fabric samples, and decorative arts will showcase the plans the family had for their new life, before a section devoted to the collection of art they amassed. Paintings, glassware, and porcelain pieces represent these holdings. This area will also delve into the revolution and Natalie’s siblings, Vladimir, her brother who met his untimely death during his time, and Irina, her sister.

The exhibition will then shift to Natalie, continuing with her escape to Paris with her mother and sister, a period which set the stage for an intriguing and creative life. She transformed herself into a fashion icon, marrying Lucien Lelong, modeling, and establishing relationships with designers and artists, eventually moving to the United States in the 1930s. Photographs, illustrations, perfumes, sketches, jewelry, and more will highlight her indelible mark on creatives and tastemakers from this time, particularly in the United States, with a focus on her time in New York. She sat for an incredible range of photographers, including Horst P. Horst, George Hoyningen-Huene, Cecil Beaton, John Alfred Piver, and others, appearing in magazines from Harper’s Bazaar to Vogue, and replicas of these images will be on view.

Additionally, subsections relating to Paley’s involvement with the fashion label Mainbocher and her and second husband Jack Wilson’s social scene at their home Pebbles, in Fairfield, Connecticut, will round out the exhibition. From Exile to Avant-garde will conclude by underscoring Paley’s legacy of elegance, cementing her status as an important icon, tenacious survivor, and fashionable influencer with a knack for reinvention.

Ticketing:  

$18, $15 seniors, $10 college students, $5 for visitors age 6 to 18.
Adults and seniors receive $3 off the suggested donation for weekday visits when reservations are made online. 
Members receive free admission during regular operating hours. To join, visit www.hillwoodmuseum.org/membership.
For more information, visit www.hillwoodmuseum.org/visit/opening-hours-tickets.