Très Parisien, 1925, No. 10, Pl. 9: - ORPHÉE 1925

This fashion plate called “Orphée”, was made in 1925 by G-P. Joumard. Can you imagine the artist, in their studio, perhaps in Lyon or Paris, delicately applying gouache or watercolor to paper? The model, sleek and elongated, embodies the Art Deco spirit with her dress and the way it hangs on her body. The dress and the feathers are so linear, and it’s all about these clean sharp lines and planes of color, right? The palette is muted, but the dress shimmers with gold and black—you can almost feel the lamé fabric and the texture through the paper. I wonder if Joumard ever imagined that their fashion plate would end up in a museum, being admired nearly a century later. Fashion plates like this one really evoke a specific moment, while at the same time, it’s feeding off an artist’s response to a particular moment in time.