Exhibition dates: 4th May – 30th September 2018
Artists: George Barbier, Jean Carlu, AM. Cassandre, Paul Colin, Jean-Gabriel Domergue, Studio Dorland, Maurice Dufrène, Michel Dufet, Jean Dupas, Charles Gesmar, Raymond Gid, Natalja Gontscharowa, Agentur Havas, Auguste Herbin, Paul Iribe, Alexis Kow, André Lambert, Michail Larionow, Fernand Léger, Georges Lepape, Charles Loupot, André Édouard Marty, René Vincent, Gerda Wegener and others
Paul Colin (1892-1985)
Josephine Baker in a Banana Skirt
1927
Sheet of the Portfolio Edition Le Tumulte noir
Lithograph, Pochoir Print
47 x 33 cm
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2018
Colourful and graphic, these designs are just fab!
From the androgynous creatures in Georges Lepape’s Japonisme inspired Rugby (Waisted Costume by Redfern) 1914 to Fernand Léger’s avant-garde Illustration of Blaise Cendrars, La Fin du Monde 1919 (both below) these creations are elegant and sophisticated illustrations.
The outrageous curve of the out flung arm in Paul Colin’s Josephine Baker in a Banana Skirt 1927 (above), so evocative of the dancer is, on its own, worthy of your attention.
Marcus
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Many thankx to the the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg for allowing me to publish the artwork in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.
Paul Iribe (1883-1935)
Illustration of Les Robes des Paul Poiret
1908
Etching and Pochoir print
31 x 27.7 cm
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
Georges Lepape (1887-1971)
We are watched – New Muffs for the Winter
1913
Panel of La Gazette du Bon Ton
Pochoir Print
24.5 x 19 cm
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2018
Georges Lepape (1887-1971)
Rugby (Waisted Costume by Redfern)
1914
Panel of La Gazette du Bon Ton
Pochoir Print
24 x 19 cm
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2018
The term Art Deco is used to describe a style of decorative art popular between the heyday of Art Nouveau and the emergence of the International Style in the 1950s, roughly contemporaneous with the radical forms of avant-garde artistic expression exemplified by De Stijl, the Russian avant-garde, and the Bauhaus. The origins can be traced to Paris circa 1910. After 1930, Art Deco diverged in various directions. It was subsumed by the pompous neoclassicism of the 1930s, for example in Fascist architecture in Italy, and it survived in the USA until the 1950s in bakelite radios and plastic handbags. The name was derived from the 1925 world exhibition of applied arts in Paris: Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes. The very words Art Deco summon images of opulent curved forms, exquisite furniture, costly fabrics, and sophisticated garments – and only rarely of graphic art. And yet the printed image witnessed some remarkable achievements during this period. In recent years, the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (MKG) has acquired a collection of Parisian prints mainly from the 1920s that is unparalleled anywhere in Germany. From a total of over 700 sheets, some 150 will be on view at the show, representing in equal measure posters, graphics (pochoir prints and lithographs), and advertisements printed chiefly in the magazines Vogue and L’Illustration. It may be surprising to see advertising placed on equal footing here with other graphic artworks, but these ads were often designed by leading artists and reflect the major themes of the times: the automobile, which reached an aesthetic culmination circa 1930; the French chanson, which rose to prominence in the 1920s; the Parisian Haute Couture created during this era; and, last but not least, dance and cabaret, which played an important role especially in Paris.
The Paris Art Deco posters are regarded internationally as a high point in the history of the poster. Adolphe Mouron, aka Cassandre, along with Charles Loupot, Jean Carlu, and Paul Colin were the leading poster artists. Each developed his own signature style. Cassandre is still today considered the greatest poster artist of the 20th century. Between 1925 and 1935, he produced around one hundred posters, each unique in its own way and many of them masterpieces that still convey a convincing balance between modern design and vivid effect. While Cassandre and Loupot were active mainly in the area of product advertising, Jean Carlu’s graphic works covered a broad spectrum from political poster to product advertising to theatre posters. Paul Colin by contrast specialised in imagery for the city’s theatre and cabaret stages. He portrayed many of the great singers and actors of the day. One of the highlights of the exhibition is Colin’s portfolio for the Revue nègre, Josephine Baker’s dance company, which performed several times in Paris and for which Colin also designed stage sets and costumes.
The first catalogue of a collection designed by the couturier Paul Poiret came out in 1908: Les robes de Paul Poiret – a sort of founding manifesto of Art Deco. Poiret, who deserves to be called one of the inventors of Haute Couture, presents therein his new women’s fashions, with high waists and long, swinging robes: the typical Art Deco silhouettes are born. The catalogue also boasts the first important pochoir prints, designed by Paul Iribe, a political cartoonist who also had success as a fashion illustrator.
Pochoir prints are a special feature in Parisian graphics. The term refers to a specific technique, but came to stand for a whole genre, namely for sophisticated and elegant illustration dealing mainly with fashion and – subtle – eroticism. Literally translated, pochoir means stencil printing, but there is much more involved in the actual practice. Most of the prints were produced using complex mixed techniques with varying proportions of manual labor. Unsuitable for large editions at low prices, the prints were destined instead for deluxe editions and upscale fashion journals such as the Gazette du Bon Ton.
Press release from Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
Fernand Léger (1881-1955)
Illustration of Blaise Cendrars, La Fin du Monde
1919
Lithograph
31.8 x 25 cm
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2018
George Barbier (1882-1932)
Day and Night
1924
Panel of the Almanac Falbalas et Fanfreluches
Pochoir print
24 x 19 cm
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
Charles Loupot (1892-1962)
The Blue Amazon
1924
Illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton
Pochoir Print and Halftone
24.7 × 19.2 cm
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2018
Charles Loupot (1892-1962)
Official Poster for the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts
1925
Lithograph
120 × 77.5 cm
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2018
Charles Gesmar (1900-1928)
Mistinguett
1925
Poster, Lithograph
120 × 77.5 cm
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
Auguste Herbin (1882-1960)
Bal de la Grande Course
1925
Poster, Lithograph
120.4 × 80.1 cm
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2018
Paul Colin (1892-1985)
Jean Borlin
1925
Poster, Lithograph
120.6 × 90.3 cm
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2018
Paul Colin (1892-1985)
The Jazz Orchestra of Josephine Baker
1925
Sheet of the Portfolio Edition Le Tumulte noir
Lithograph, Pochoir Print
47 × 66 cm
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2018
Paul Colin (1892-1985)
Josephine Baker, dancing
1927
Sheet of the Portfolio Edition Le Tumulte noir
Lithograph, Pochoir Print
47 x 33 cm
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2018
Rougemont
Mistinguett
1928/29
Poster, Lithograph
157.5 x 117.2 cm
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
René Vincent (1879-1936)
Peugeot
1928
Poster, Lithograph
117,5 × 157.5 cm
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
Paul Colin (1892-1985)
André Renaud
1929
Poster, Lithograph
156,7 × 117.8 cm
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2018
Roger Pérot (1908-1976)
Delahaye
1932
Poster, lithograph
160 x 120 cm
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
Unknown
Advert for the Parfume French Cancan in the Magazine L’Illustration
1935
Offset print
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
Steintorplatz, 20099 Hamburg
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