['Journal des Dames et des Modes: the Fashion Illustrators', 'Journal des Dames et des Modes: Fashion News'] by Hy. Fournier

['Journal des Dames et des Modes: the Fashion Illustrators', 'Journal des Dames et des Modes: Fashion News'] 1913

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hyfournier

drawing, print

portrait

drawing

art-nouveau

print

figuration

decorative-art

dress

Dimensions height 175 mm, width 107 mm

This fashion illustration was made by Hy. Fournier in 1913, and it’s called ‘Journal des Dames et des Modes: the Fashion Illustrators’. I imagine the artist carefully built up this image, applying delicate washes of color with a fine brush. The main subject is a lady dressed in a ‘robe à combinaison de noir et blanc’. It makes me think of the way Sonia Delaunay played with contrasting forms and colors, the avant-garde artist would have loved this woman’s dress. Fournier’s fashion plate is not only descriptive, but also aspirational. Can you imagine all the elements of this woman's stylish lifestyle that this artwork suggests? I wonder if Fournier felt conflicted about working within the field of commercial art? It must have been a challenge to assert their individual expression. But even within these constraints, I think the image still conveys the artist’s personal touch. The careful attention to line and detail has a real elegance.

Comments

rijksmuseum over 1 year ago

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['The Journal des Dames was inspired by the eponymous fashion magazine from the previous century and, like the earlier publication, referred to its illustrations as Costumes Parisiens. These Costumes Parisiens (184 illustrations in total) were drawn in a new, flat, decorative manner by George Barbier, Jan van Brock, Victor Lhuer and other Parisian artists, each with a signature style. Every issue came with two or three separate plates. These showed a wide variety of fashionable apparel, from elegant evening attire to outdoor outfits. A brief caption provides the name of the garment and the material from which it was made, but never the name of a fashion house.', 'The Journal de Dames et des Modes was marketed towards the affluent, sophisticated elite. The text consisted of literary contributions and articles on various topics written by leading Parisian literati. The fashion commentaries discussed the full spectrum of new trends, such as ‘strolling bareheaded by motorcar,’ matching the colour of one’s dress to that of one’s automobile, the impracticality of small umbrellas, the wearing of sky-blue and grass-green wigs, and the vogue among women for large flat hats or for the small toques adorned with feathers that projected from their foreheads like antennae.']