Dimensions: height 244 mm, width 187 mm
Copyright: Rijks Museum: Open Domain
George Barbier made this pochoir print of evening attire, sometime around the early 1920’s. The colour palette is muted, restrained, almost melancholic with a gentle approach to mark making. Look at the texture of the night sky, created with tiny, precisely placed dots of white. See how it contrasts with the flat, velvety black behind. This creates a sense of depth, of looking into the void. My eyes are drawn to the figure in the cloak, or is it a cape? It has a kind of regal quality, but also feels a bit…awkward, as though the wearer is unsure of its weight. The folds in the fabric are rendered with such care, they have a sculptural quality. They remind me of the way an artist can obsess over the fall of light on a figure in a painting, it’s that careful. Barbier, with his background as an illustrator, shares a sensibility with Erté, in his focus on form and elegance. I think you could also see a through line to someone like Christian Berard, another artist fascinated by fashion. It’s all part of an ongoing conversation.
Comments
rijksmuseum over 1 year ago
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If the price of the Gazette du Bon Ton was steep, that of the clothes pictured was exorbitant. Evening attire was especially luxurious, consisting chiefly of silk garments decorated with gold and silver thread or expensive fur. Naturally, clothes like these called for costly accessories, which a true lady wore sparingly. An outfit had to work as a whole: all of the details, from headbands to high-heeled shoes, had to fit together. And that, in turn, required money, time, care and, most importantly, bon ton (good taste).
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