Joie de vivre: Le Bonheur du Jour ou Les Graces à la Mode 1920

Henri Reidel made "Joie de vivre: Le Bonheur du Jour ou Les Graces à la Mode", with watercolour or gouache, who knows, on paper, and it’s all about that sweet, sweet process. Look at how the image seems to float on the page, the naked figure and flowing ribbons set against the flat, off-white ground; it reminds me of a fashion plate, something printed, mass-produced, but it’s also so carefully hand-rendered. The ribbons are like brushstrokes, loose and carefree. And the figure itself, rendered in simple washes of color, feels both classical and modern. It’s like Reidel is saying, ‘Hey, fashion can be art, too.’ This piece is an interesting predecessor to Pop Art, where commercial imagery is turned into something more thoughtful and self-aware. It reminds me a little of Erté, in its use of line and flat color, but there’s also something distinctly modern about its embrace of ambiguity, that kind of anything-goes attitude that makes art so exciting.