Très Parisien, 1925, No. 11, Pl. 9: Créations BERNARD et Cie - COSY 1925

This fashion plate, made by J. Dory in 1925, is rendered with a precise but economical use of line and color, very much of its time. It's like a recipe reduced to its essential ingredients; a distillation of style, a mood conjured from a few carefully chosen colors. Looking at it, I'm struck by how the artist uses these graphic elements to imply texture and form. The purple coat of the figure on the left, for instance, with its subtle shading, suggests both the weight and the drape of the fabric. What really grabs me, though, is the way the artist uses the stark contrast of black and white on the dress of the other figure to convey shimmer and movement. Those little dashes of white seem to dance across the surface, creating an illusion of depth and dimension. It reminds me a little of Matisse, or even Sonia Delaunay, in its playful manipulation of color and form. But ultimately, it’s its own thing; an ambiguous image that asks more questions than it answers.