Art - Goût - Beauté, Feuillets de l' élégance féminine, Mars 1929, No. 103, 9e Année, p. 27 1929

This is a page from a magazine called Art - Goût - Beauté, made in March 1929 by J. Dory. It’s an image created with printing. I imagine Dory, bent over a drafting table with tiny brushes and ink, rendering each delicate line, each perfect curve. What was it like to work in this fashion? This kind of image-making seems so different from how we think of art today. Take the drawing of the straw hat. See how the curves of the hat mirror the curves of the woman’s face? The hat is pink, a fleshy rose, and the face is, too. It’s like the hat is an extension of her head. And what about that shoe and handbag with blue polka dots inside a square? It’s all so contained and controlled. Dory was part of a whole community of artists and designers, all riffing off each other, responding to the changing times, and trying to capture something new. It makes you think about the ongoing conversation between artists across time, inspiring each other and pushing the boundaries of what art can be.