Toujours Chic, Toilettes de Soirées, Hiver 1921-1922: Cléopatre 1921 - 1922

G-P. Joumard made this fashion plate, Cléopatre, probably with watercolour and ink, around 1921. The whole point is the confident, flowing line, a shorthand that suggests the drape and swish of fabric. Look at the way the simple black dots cascade down the dress. These aren't labored over, they're dashed off quickly, like notes in a sketchbook. The red gems at the waist are little jolts of color, anchoring the whole composition. I love that combination of precision and spontaneity. It reminds me of Dufy, actually. Like Joumard, he had an amazing sense of how to capture a fleeting moment with just a few strokes. In a way, fashion illustration and painting are both about chasing after something that's always just out of reach. That’s the beauty of art, isn't it? The endless pursuit, the conversation that never really ends.