The Seasons, Winter 

Erte created this artwork, The Seasons: Winter, with gouache and ink on paper. The composition is dominated by a stylized female figure, her face serene against a backdrop of falling snow. The stark contrast between the black sky and the white snowflakes creates a visually striking pattern, evoking the stillness of a winter night. Erte's use of geometric shapes and stylized forms flattens the image, pushing it towards abstraction. Notice how the crescent moons in the upper left echo the curve of her closed eyelids, creating a visual rhyme that ties the composition together. The fur trim on her coat, rendered in precise parallel lines, adds a tactile quality, contrasting with the smooth planes of her face and hat. This flattening of space and emphasis on pattern challenges traditional notions of depth and perspective. Erte’s work, rooted in art deco aesthetics, uses semiotic codes of luxury and sophistication, but also engages with broader ideas about the representation of women. The work destabilizes fixed meanings through its highly stylized form.