Très Parisien, 1923, No 1: Tissus et Rubans de A. PREVOST ... 1923

This page, Très Parisien, No. 1, was made in 1923 by an anonymous artist, probably using ink and paint. Looking at the image, I imagine the artist, bent over a drawing board, carefully inking the lines that define the figures, and then delicately applying washes of color. There’s a sensitivity to the surface here—a layering of thin washes that remind me of early modernism. I wonder, what was the artist thinking about? What was their relationship to fashion, to the city of Paris, to the act of image-making itself? The color is laid down in flat planes, yet the details, like the patterns on the fabric, suggest an attention to detail that borders on obsession. The whole thing is kind of odd and beautiful. It reminds me of other early 20th century fashion plates, and how they created a language of style and aspiration. Ultimately, this piece embodies the spirit of its time, a moment of transformation.