La Mode par Fried, No. 2, Octobre 1918, Pl. XV (15): Pleuvra-t-il? 1918

This is "La Mode par Fried, No. 2" from October 1918, plate XV, it's an illustration, probably made with some kind of printmaking process. It feels like a dance between the hand-drawn and the mechanically reproduced. I love the color palette here. It's like faded glory, a muted symphony of purples, grays, and taupes, which gives the image a melancholic, nostalgic vibe. The dress has these vertical lines which repeat and run down the length of the dress. Check out the way the artist renders the sky, it's like a hazy dreamscape. It’s gestural, almost like the memory of a storm. Then, see how the umbrella mirrors the dress, only upside down and dark. In both, we see the surface texture, but we also see the flat plane of the page. This tension between surface and depth, flatness and form, is what makes the image so alive, so unresolved. It reminds me of the work of Bonnard. It's not just about what we see, but how we see it.