Pas de Deux 

Erte's 'Pas de Deux' is a work made with gouache on paper that embodies the spirit of the Art Deco era. The piece presents a stylized dance, a dialogue between two masked figures. The monochrome palette, punctuated by stark contrasts, recalls the high society masquerade balls popular in Europe during the 1920s and 30s. Those spectacles allowed for the temporary dissolution of social boundaries, a playful subversion of the strict class structures of the time. The dancer's masks both conceal and reveal, hinting at the performance of identity and the fluidity of social roles. This dance evokes the world of theatre and fashion design, where Erte found his fame designing for magazines like 'Harper's Bazaar' and 'Vogue'. The very institutions that commodified art. The historian uses sources like those magazines, alongside biographies and studies of the period to understand the socio-economic context that gave rise to such a distinctive visual culture. Art, in this sense, becomes a mirror reflecting the aspirations and anxieties of its time.