Incantation 1923

George Barbier made ‘Incantation’ sometime in the 1920s, and I’m imagining the act of making this image, shifting and emerging through the artist's trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with Barbier because I’m also an artist. I imagine him thinking about the texture and surface, the physicality of his medium. The paper is relatively smooth; the color is thin. Barbier lays down elegant dark lines that communicate feeling and intention. Barbier’s been looking at the paintings of his contemporaries such as Erté. He uses an illustrative style, which makes the image feel staged and a little mysterious. Artists are in conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. This form of expression embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.