Gaby Deslys 

Erte created this image of Gaby Deslys using gouache and ink. The image is a study in the aesthetics of costume, and by extension, fashion. The lines are clean and crisp, and the areas of flat color highlight the way the figure is adorned with textiles, tassels, and feathers. All this requires production, spinning, dying, weaving, and sewing. The design illustrates the distance between the world of creative vision, and the countless hours of labor required to bring it to life. And that is to say nothing of the economic system that supports such extravagant display. In short, while this illustration might seem like a paean to pure visual delight, we should also read it as evidence of complex social relations, and hierarchies of value. It is a reminder that even the most apparently frivolous images are ultimately grounded in material realities.