Roses dan la nuit 1914

George Barbier made this magical image, Roses in the Night, maybe a century ago using illustration and watercolor techniques. It's like peering into a dream, isn't it? I can imagine him, pen in hand, hovering over the page, conjuring these figures from the deep blue night. Those little white specks scattered across the scene - starlight or fireflies? They add so much mystery. Look at the figure on the right in blue with roses - is she offering them, or hiding behind them? And the other figure, with her elegant posture and the way she's framed by those climbing roses... her hands almost look like she is warding off the night, as if she is as surprised as we are to find herself here. It has the feeling of theatre set, or a photograph. Barbier was part of a whole scene of artists exploring similar themes - think of Erté, or even some of the Surrealists. It's all one big conversation, passing ideas back and forth through time. Painting is like that, always open to interpretation and change.