Robe de lainage, couleur taupe avec de la broderie de laine bleue. Chapeau de paille garni de fleurs. 1919

This fashion plate was made around 1919 with ink and watercolor over graphite. It looks like a study in blues against earth tones, the fashionable woman's blue parasol almost mirroring the blue skirt of the flower seller. The anonymous artist has an interesting way of letting the colors flood and bleed into each other. Take a look at the embroidery on the wool dress of the figure on the left. The roses there are painted with a simple, almost childish, touch, but the effect is really rather wonderful. It's not about perfect representation, it's about catching the light. This plate reminds me a bit of Raoul Dufy's fabric designs, in its playful approach to line and color. Both artists seem to be thinking about how we can see the world differently through the lens of art. There is something nice about the openness and ambiguity of this fashion plate.