Art - Goût - Beauté, Feuillets de l' élégance féminine, Février 1926, No. 66, 6e Année, p. 15 1926

This fashion plate, "Art - Goût - Beauté," was printed in Paris in February 1926, and it uses a flat, graphic style. Look at how the figures are rendered with such simple lines and blocks of color. It's almost like a stencil, reducing forms to their most essential shapes. It's so process driven. Now, take a closer look at the pink feathery item in the left of the image. It’s just a few strokes, an explosion of fluffy texture made with incredibly economic means. The way that one area is created is very playful, and the simplicity of this contrasts the more decorative dresses in the image. It’s these moments, where the work feels provisional or unresolved, that I find exciting. This approach reminds me a little of Erté, but with a more pared-down sensibility. Both artists were playing with line and color to create images of high fashion, but the anonymous artist seems to be pulling back towards something slightly more abstract. Art's always a conversation, right?