Robe de visite en satin et chiffon blanc 1919

This fashion plate, printed in 1919, is of a woman wearing a white satin and chiffon dress, and there is something so light and airy about it! I imagine the artist carefully etching the lines, maybe inking and wiping the plate to make it just right, gently layering colors to make the figure come alive on the page. I can almost see the artist, head bent in concentration, meticulously adding those delicate touches to the composition. I wonder, were they thinking about capturing a fleeting moment of elegance or perhaps commenting on the changing styles and social mores of the time? The pale washes feel very contemporary, somehow. The slightly off-kilter proportions of the figure, the hint of asymmetry, bring a certain vulnerability and humanity to the image. It reminds me that the artist is present, too, guiding my eye, prompting me to linger and look more closely. These artists, even the anonymous ones, have so much to teach us.