Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1912, Costumes Parisiens, no. 20: Fourreau crèpe blanc (...) 1912

Charles Martin made this fashion plate, Journal des Dames et des Modes, in 1912. It's watercolor and ink on paper, and when I look at it, I think about what it's like to be an artist who gets to draw clothes all day. The woman's clothes have that kind of awkward elegance of the 1910s, and the colors are bright and poppy. I can imagine Charles Martin, after sketching out the basic shapes, carefully filling in each area with watercolor, maybe even using tiny brushes to get those fine details. He's looking at other fashion plates, thinking about the changing times. He’s trying to bring something new to it. The green blouse and dotted trousers have a striking almost fauvist appeal. I wonder what it was like to paint during that time, soaking up all the new ideas and trying to distill it into these small images. It's all one big conversation that we artists are having with each other across time.