Manteau en ratin gris-clair, le col en cuir gris brodé de laine rouge 1919

This fashion plate from 1919 is rendered with ink and watercolor and it feels so immediate, you know? I can picture the artist, maybe a young woman herself, quickly sketching, trying to catch that fleeting feeling of modernity. The blues and reds are so arresting against the gray. That bold stroke of blue swirling in the upper corner, it's like a breath of fresh air, or a ribbon caught in the wind. And the elongated figure... well, she's like a precursor to all those slender, chic figures you see in Erté's work. It is as if the artist is whispering, "Look, the future is here, and she's wearing a very cool coat." Maybe it's a glimpse of their own desires, their own aspirations. We all, as artists, stand on the shoulders of those who came before, riffing on their ideas, pushing them further, or pulling them apart. This artist, whoever she was, is part of that great conversation.