Venez donc, ma bonne amie ! 1922

Editor: This is "Venez donc, ma bonne amie !" by George Barbier, created in 1922. The print gives me a distinct impression of an era steeped in specific class dynamics, mostly achieved through precise details, and a kind of idealized fabrication in design. What's your take? Curator: Note the graphic quality; a calculated construction based on flatness. It draws our attention to the techniques of production: from Barbier’s application of color and line to the larger printing process and distribution systems that brought images like this to a broader public. Editor: That makes sense. It seems quite detached and almost like fashion plate art, more concerned with visual appeal rather than personal touch. Curator: Precisely. The apparent simplicity belies the complexities inherent to material practices and social position. Consider how clothing becomes a symbol of both wealth and industrial processes: the sourcing of fabrics, the labor of tailoring, the marketing of aspirational lifestyles that are all synthesized on the page. Editor: It’s interesting to consider the work through that lens. Would the choice of using flat color serve a function besides simply portraying elegance? Curator: Definitely. Flat colour highlights the mechanics of reproduction. Every colour is deliberately chosen and applied for ease of printing, thus underlining art-making as a constructed image and reproducible commodity for an audience consuming fashionable luxury. Editor: This has opened up an exciting, entirely fresh perspective on how I now understand the material aspects of art creation! Curator: Indeed! Focusing on the methods helps to expose not only the art's own artifice, but how deeply enmeshed it is in its contemporary systems of capital and labor.