1924 George Barbier, La Terre (The Earth)
Hand-coloured, plate-signed pochoir from Falbalas & Fanfreluches: "The Earth" is part of Barbier's 1924 "Four Elements" quatrain. This bucolic scene is the "earthy" depiction of the New Woman, who in the 20's has taken on the former male-only domains of the cigarette, the ballot, and symbolically here, the "can-do" spade as well. Barbier's works frequently contain juxtaposed undertones of the revolutionary social (feminist) upheavals taking place right alongside the fabulous fresh treatments in fashion and fabric. This is the Center of the New Universe, as shown by the marked curvature of the grassy earth-plane.
This famous illustrated almanac series was produced from 1922 to 1926 only and depicted high-society life in Paris - the fashion, social and artistic capital of the early inter-war years. Each issue contained a small diary and notation section, an introduction by one of the leading social/cultural doyens of the day, a decorative cover and twelve fashion plates (one for each month of the year), hand-coloured via stencil and watercolour/gouache.
For sale: Artophile.com
