Toujours Chic Les Deshabillés, Hiver 1921-1922: Ingénue 1921 - 1922

This fashion plate, "Ingénue," was made around 1921-1922 by G-P. Joumard, and it's like a whisper of a dream. The palette is soft, mostly pinks, blacks, and creams, with a hint of green in the background, and the lines are crisp and economical. I can imagine the artist sketching rapidly, trying to capture a certain fleeting elegance, a certain "je ne sais quoi". What's she thinking, this "Ingénue?" Is she self-aware, or just lost in the moment? Is Joumard winking at us? The black scribbles behind her add a bit of an edge. It's as if the artist is showing us the quick, chaotic underbelly of something effortlessly chic. Fashion plates are always a conversation between commerce and art, between the ideal and the real. They remind me that art isn't made in a vacuum; it's always responding to something else.