Très Parisien. La Mode, Le Chic, L’Elégance 1927

This fashion plate called "Très Parisien" was made by an anonymous artist around 1927. It’s got this real elegant, pared-down feel, all about capturing the essence of design with simple lines and muted colours. It makes me think about process, about what it means to strip things down to their most essential form. There's this gorgeous sense of flatness. It's like the artist is playing with the idea of surface and depth at the same time. The textures are suggested rather than depicted, which leaves so much room for the imagination. The dress on the right, with its bold floral pattern, is just everything, isn't it? The way the black shapes are scattered across the fabric, it's like a dance across the surface. It reminds me a little bit of Matisse's paper cut-outs, actually, in how it uses simple shapes to create such a vibrant and expressive composition. Art is just a conversation, an ongoing exchange of ideas across time.