Gazette du Bon Ton, 1914 - No. 4, Pl. 38: Le lys rouge / Robe du soir de Paul Poiret 1914

Simone Puget made this print called "Le Lys Rouge" in 1914 for the Gazette du Bon Ton, and it’s all about a dress designed by Paul Poiret. The dress, rendered in flat colours with minimal shading, is the star. The bold green swirls at the bottom immediately grab you, like some kind of Op Art, while the brown of the upper section feels grounded, earthy. It reminds me of how I like to play with colour relationships in my own paintings, setting up these little visual tensions. Look at how Puget uses line – it’s clean, confident, almost like a woodcut, defining the shapes and forms with precision. That single red lily, though, is the kicker. It’s held by the model in a way that feels both delicate and slightly awkward. There’s a sense of artifice here, a questioning of what’s real and what’s constructed. It reminds me a bit of Man Ray’s photographs, and maybe even some Matisse cut-outs. Ultimately, it's a reminder that art is always a conversation.