Art - Goût - Beauté, Feuillets de l' élégance féminine, Novembre 1931, No. 135, 12e Année, p. 10 1931

Editor: This is "Art - Goût - Beauté, Feuillets de l'élégance féminine," a drawing from November 1931 by R. Drivon. It’s such an elegant image, capturing the Art Deco style so well! I’m particularly drawn to the stylized figures. How do you interpret this work, particularly concerning its visual language? Curator: This image functions as a coded language of its time. Consider the recurring motif of the flower, present both as an actual bloom and abstracted in the dress patterns. What feelings or associations do flowers evoke for you? Editor: Perhaps ideas of beauty, delicacy, and the feminine? Curator: Precisely! The flowers, combined with the elongated figures and streamlined dresses, speak to a specific idea of idealized femininity in the 1930s. Each detail carries weight, from the cut of the gowns to the postures of the women. They project an image of effortless chic. Do you notice how the artist renders the dresses in great detail, but simplifies the faces? Editor: I do. It's as if the clothing is meant to speak louder than the individual. Almost like the clothing _is_ the person. Curator: In a way, it does replace them. It also creates a sense of detachment, typical in that time's magazine illustrations. So the image really promotes a certain aspiration, a type of self one could achieve by buying into the fashion, almost like a new religion for its followers. What did you think of that symbolism now that you are looking closely? Editor: I didn't notice those themes initially, but I am intrigued by the social commentary embedded within this fashion plate. Curator: Indeed, these types of images can reveal a lot about our values. There is a lasting memory of collective emotions through these seemingly simple ads.