Grande robe du soir, 1913

This print, "Grande robe du soir," was made in 1913 by George Barbier and it's all about the power of line and color to evoke a mood, a feeling. The patterns in the dress are like a garden, a wild explosion tamed only by the overall shape. Look how the roses and leaves are arranged, it’s decorative of course, but there is also a rhythm, like notes in a song. The way Barbier uses a flat, unmodulated black for the background makes the colors pop. And isn't it wild how the pink marble wall almost disappears? It is like Barbier wants us to lose ourselves in the dress, in the fantasy of the woman wearing it. I am put in mind of Erte, maybe, in its sense of elegant theater, but with its own playful, slightly off-kilter feeling. Art is a conversation, and this print is still talking to us.