Les Perles. Mandchoukuo 1950

Paul Jacoulet made "Les Perles. Mandchoukuo" which pictures a woman with a veil in front of a blue and red floral backdrop. I really get a sense of Jacoulet trying to capture the beauty and elegance of his subject with all those details in her clothing. Look at the way he's handled the veil, it's so sheer you can almost see through it, which gives her face a delicate, ethereal quality. What was he thinking as he rendered her? There's something about the gesture of her hands, holding up the veil, that feels very intentional. I can imagine him studying those hands, trying to get the pose just right. You can see elements of Japanese printmaking, and I'm sure he knew those artists well. All artists are magpies really, taking bits of inspiration here and there. It reminds me that as artists, we’re always in conversation with each other, riffing on the ideas of those who came before us.