Art - Goût - Beauté, Feuillets de l' élégance féminine, Juin 1929, No. 106, 9e Année, p.13 1929

This fashion plate, Art - Goût - Beauté, was made in June 1929, by R. Drivon, using pen and ink. Look at how Drivon uses the grey wash to pick out the folds and drapes of the dresses, but leaving areas untouched. It is like the eye has to work to complete the image, and gives the composition an unfinished quality. The mark making is fluid and light, as if the artist is trying to capture a fleeting moment. Look at how the grey pools at the feet of the figures, rooting them to the ground. My eye is drawn to the figure on the far left, the way the thin grey wash has picked out the line of the back, that gentle curve from the shoulder to the waist. There is something both incredibly modern, and yet somehow ancient in the feel of the piece. Drivon reminds me of Erté, in the way that he picks out details of costume with such delicacy and poise. Like Erté, Drivon seems to understand that fashion is always an ongoing dialogue with the past.