Art - Goût - Beauté, Feuillets de l' élégance féminine, Février 1926, No. 66, 6e Année, p. 18: Création Jean Patou 1926

This fashion plate from 1926, made by an anonymous artist, is a slice of Parisian life at the train station. What I love is how the artist renders form through these simplified blocks of color. It's not about realism; it's about creating a feeling, a mood. The color palette here is muted, mostly soft greens and beiges, a yellowish tone which evokes the fashion of the day. But then, BAM, you've got that leopard print scarf and cuffs. The artist knew exactly where to place that pattern to give the whole composition some zing. Look closely at the rendering of the train carriage. It’s abstracted, almost flattened, but you still get the sense of space and depth. It reminds me a bit of the stage sets of Oskar Schlemmer. Both artists were pushing the boundaries of representation. It's like they're saying, "Here's the world, but not as you know it. " Art is more than just the surface, it's a world of ongoing conversations.