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This is a hand coloured and plate-signed pochoir from the book "Les Choses de Paul Poiret". Poiret was the grand haute couture designer who commissioned Lepape for this landmark book published February 15, 1911. This was the first time in the history of fashion illustration that the elements of movement and drama were used to help feature the designer's work. Poiret's two unique couture albums, in collaboration with Iribe and Lepape, set the stage for the next 20 years - the golden age of fashion illustration - and are today regarded as seminal pieces of Art Deco design. Poiret would hold regular soirees in which he planted models amongst his elite guests. This pochoir illustrates a theater production (held weekly in Poiret's estate in Paris) in which the models wore Poiret's latest creations, as interpreted here by Lepape. Lepape's revolutionary artistic approach to dress illustration had instant impact: the initial shock of the simplicity, the reduction to the basics of pattern design was, in the end, an irresistible and effective marketing tactic. Lepape was establishing new and unique benchmarks in illustration, particularly in the sector of haute couture, and because of this he is considered a major figure in 20thC. fine art.
H. 9.0in X W. 11.125in; H. 22.9cm X W. 28.3 |
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