La Leçon bien apprise 1919

George Barbier made this illustration, "La Leçon bien apprise," with graphic precision, probably using watercolor and ink, and what I love is how the whole scene is staged with a delightful sense of theatre. The colours are so flat and evenly applied, it's like a play with paper cut-outs, where you get this heightened sense of pattern and design. Look at the way the woman's dress billows out, all these crisp lines and curves, and this little man hiding underneath. I like the fact that it’s a guy with a violin. It’s just so ridiculous. Barbier was part of the Art Deco movement, and you can really see that in his clean lines and elegant compositions. It reminds me of Erté, another artist from that time, and how they both used fashion and illustration to explore the limits of beauty and style. For me, that is what art really is, the beauty of an ongoing conversation across time.