Cat Burglar c. 1970s

Patrick Nagel created "Cat Burglar" with airbrush on board, and what hits me first is the economy of line, that art deco coolness. Nagel's like a fashion photographer but with paint. The surfaces are so smooth, you can hardly see the hand of the artist. It's like he's hiding the process, which makes it all the more intriguing. Look at the way he renders the woman's hair, just a few strokes and BAM, instant glamour. The color palette, those muted blues and reds, feels very specific to a certain time, a certain mood. It's like you're looking at a still from a film noir, but one that's been filtered through the lens of a fashion magazine. It makes me think of Erté, another artist who knew how to capture the zeitgeist with a few well-placed lines. Art is always in conversation, isn't it?