From Collection Decors et Couleurs, Album No. 1 1930

Editor: So, this is "From Collection Decors et Couleurs, Album No. 1" by Georges Valmier, made in 1930. I find the colors really striking, but almost dizzying with the geometric shapes. It has kind of a retro, jazzy vibe. What's your interpretation? Curator: "Jazzy vibe" - I love that! I feel it too, like visual syncopation. You see, Valmier moved through several styles, and in the '30s he landed somewhere between abstraction and Art Deco, playing with how forms create optical rhythms, don't you think? This feels very aligned with graphic design from the period. Those colours pop with surprising depth... Are you drawn to any specific shapes? Editor: I like the diamonds… or are they squares? They sort of trick my eye, and that zig-zag pattern in the center is cool. I suppose the circles with the lines through them are simple, but in contrast to everything else they really grab me. Curator: Right? They create a pause, a resting place amidst the energetic field of geometric forms, don’t they? It is as though Valmier intuitively sensed that dynamic compositions are enhanced through the element of relief. Almost as if the artist intended to compose silence alongside all the geometric and chromatic tension. Editor: Wow, that makes me think about the negative space more, which is subtle. I guess the silence gives the composition a certain elegance that helps unify it, somehow. Curator: Elegance, yes! But it's a complex elegance, wouldn't you agree? We often seek harmony in a world where things don't always align. Maybe Valmier’s art invites us to embrace these contrasting elements in art, but also in life, what do you reckon? Editor: Definitely! It seems less chaotic now, and more... balanced in its own way. Like a crazy dance that actually has structure. I didn't think of it that way at first.