Minuit! (...)ou l'appartement à la mode. 1920

Henri Reidel made this print of an elegant woman in her apartment, but what medium did he use? It’s hard to tell. Is it watercolor? Is it colored pencil? Is it pochoir? Looking at this picture, I feel like I’m in a conversation with another artist about the nature of line, shape, and space, and the place where drawing meets painting. I can imagine Reidel using an assortment of tools: maybe he used a fine brush to create delicate details, and a broader one for washes of color, allowing the ink or paint to bleed slightly into the paper. I imagine him layering thin glazes to build up depth and luminosity. And wow, what is that backdrop? Are those vines? I love that they seem to reference Art Nouveau as well as Matisse’s arabesques. I imagine Reidel thinking about decoration and beauty, but also about the joy of mark-making. He would probably agree with me that art making is an ongoing conversation across time, inspiring creativity and creating something new in each moment.