Art - Goût - Beauté, Feuillets de l' élégance féminine, Mai 1929, No. 105, 9e Année, p. 18 1929

R. Drivon made this fashion plate, "Art - Goût - Beauté," in Paris in May 1929, as a page in a women's magazine. What strikes me is the simplicity of the line work, how Drivon allows these sketches to exist on the page with a kind of unpretentious elegance, which is maybe the point here. Look at the middle figure on the left, with her back turned. The eye is immediately drawn to the bow at the lower back, and the folds and ripples of the dress in that area. The artist uses a darker tone to describe the depth and shadow, but the use of pure white to describe the highlights brings out the satin quality of the dress, and draws the eye to the interplay between light and shade. The three figures, though similar in their design and purpose, are each unique in their pose and the expression of their personality. I think of Manet when I see this plate, perhaps, or even Warhol and his screen prints. There's this conversation happening across time, a playful exchange of ideas, and in the end, no definitive meaning, just possibilities.