Art - Goût - Beauté, Feuillets de l' élégance féminine, Noël 1928, No. 100, 9e Année, p. 44 1928

Editor: Here we have a print from 1928 titled "Art - Goût - Beauté" from *Feuillets de l'élégance féminine*. It showcases jewelry designs. I'm immediately struck by the almost industrial precision in the geometric patterns, despite the obvious luxury of the materials. What do you make of it? Curator: It's important to consider the methods by which this image came into being – the very printing process that puts these images on a page destined for mass consumption, in a magazine for women no less, offering not only aspirations, but patterns of how they may conduct themselves. Are these images trying to sell high ideals, or tangible objects? Editor: So you are thinking about it less in terms of "high art" and more in terms of, like, consumer culture? Curator: Precisely. Consider the materials themselves – the ink, the paper, even the gemstones depicted. These materials all have specific origins, extraction methods, and trajectories of labor attached to them. The very process of bringing them into view—via photography, reproduction and printing technology of the time—is tied to a social hierarchy and capitalist system making the work available as “high-class”. Editor: It is definitely an ad, I get that. But could this also be a comment on how materials and technology changed art production during the Art Deco movement? Curator: Absolutely. This piece highlights that connection. What do you think is being sold: an item, an image, or something else? Editor: That's really interesting! I’m starting to look at the role of materials, production, and context in the art of that time differently. Thanks! Curator: Glad to hear. Reflecting on materiality and the socio-economic processes really helps to deconstruct historical ideals in images.