Très Parisien, 1923, No. 4: 2. - SÉVILLE. Une adorable toilette .... 1923

This print, made in 1923, is an anonymous fashion plate. It is a vision of a fashionable woman in a flapper dress, and I find myself wondering what it would have been like to paint like this, to give form to such images. The paper has aged, taking on a beautiful creamy tone, while the artist worked with flat colours. The bold circles on her dress are all slightly different, as if the artist allowed their hand and intuition to guide the design. The image is flat, but I find myself wanting to reach out and touch the surface of the image, to feel its texture. When I look at the yellow marks around the hem of the dress, I can see the artist's hand in the gesture. It reminds me that every artist stands on the shoulders of those who came before, that we are all part of a long conversation across time.