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Tag Archives: fashion illustration

Illustrating Fashion Magazines: Barbier & Colleagues

16 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Fashion, France

≈ Comments Off on Illustrating Fashion Magazines: Barbier & Colleagues

Tags

Babar the Elephant, Bernard Boutet de Monvel, Condé Nast, fashion illustration, George Barbier, Jean de Brunhoff, La Gazette du Bon Genre, La Gazette du Bon Ton, Pierre Brissaud, Vogue

 
Vogue, its first issue, 17 December 1892 (Wikipedia) or its May 1917 issue, as the cover indicates (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Vogue, its first issue, 17 December 1892, and its May 1917 cover. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Content & Style

George Barbier
La Gazette du Bon Ton
Fantasy
Illustrators
Designers
Content as Style
 

In my last post, I stated that Leo Rauth (Wikipedia, in German) differed from George Barbier in that Barbier concentrated on fashion. In this regard, I was both right and wrong. Barbier’s illustrations were a gift to the fashion and publishing industries. However, in the artwork Barbier contributed to La Gazette du Bon Ton and other fashion magazines, he let fantasy guide him as did many other illustrators.[I] The same could be said about the designers.[II] Fantasy seems our keyword.

Moreover, it could well be that Rauth’s commedia dell’arte characters resemble Barbier commedia dell’arte characters because the subject matter tends to dictate style. In Barbier’s Fêtes galantes, the stock characters of the commedia dell’arte are depicted in Antoine Watteau‘s “galant” style, perhaps not to the same extent as Rauth’s commedia dell’arte‘s characters, but in a “galant” style nevertheless.

The term “galant” is associated with music composed in the eighteenth century but, interestingly, Verlaine’s Fêtes galantes would be an inspiration to late nineteenth-century French composers, Claude Debussy (22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) and Gabriel Fauré in particular. The decadent “fin de siècle” was also called “la Belle Époque.”

During the first years of the twentieth century, there occurred a merging of the arts prompted in part by Sergei Diaghilev‘s Ballets Russes.

The Ballets Russes

We looked at Barbier’s illustrations of Paul Verlaine‘s Fêtes galantes, but as you know from earlier posts, published in 2012, Barbier also chose the Ballets Russes as one of his subjects. He portrayed not only Nijinsky, but also Russian prima ballerina Tamara Karsavina (10 March 1885 – 26 May 1978) during the years she worked for the Ballets Russes. Nikinsky, however, was its star.

In the work featured directly below, there are elements of Art Deco. The torchère is an Art Deco prop, avant la lettre. However, Barbier’s Vaslav Nijinsky flying in mid-air seems to me to be Barbier’s Vaslav Nijinsky flying in mid-air (Shéhérazade [Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov], 1910).

Art Deco is associated with the twenties, les Années folles, the Golden Twenties, but art movements overlap.

Tamara Karsaniva, George Barbier

Tamara Karsavina as Salomé by George Barbier

(Please click on the images to enlarge them.)

Nijinsky in Schéhérazade, 1910, George Barbier

Nijinsky in Schéhérazade, 1910, by George Barbier (Photo credit: Google images)

Fashion Magazines and haute couture illustrators

La Gazette du Bon Ton (France)
La Gazette du Bon Genre (New York)
Vogue, etc.
Lucien Vogel
Condé Nast 
 

A subscription to La Gazette du Bon Ton cost a fortune. It targeted the rich; wealthy New Yorkers in particular. The articles contained in both Gazettes were written impeccably, the publishers used good quality paper, and subscribers indulged their fantasies. Other fashion magazines were more affordable, so women dreamed, as did men. As noted in Wikipedia’s entry on Vogue magazine, the magazine sold profusely during the Great Depression:

“The magazine’s number of subscriptions surged during the Great Depression, and again during World War II.”

I should think that never had the superfluous been so essential than during these troubled times: fantasy! (See Vogue magazine, Wikipedia.) Men also wished to wear designer clothes. As I noted in my last post, Bernard Boutet de Monvel was a dandy. Certain clothes were not very practical. For instance, few women would wear clothes like Beer’s beach dress (robe de plage; Pierre Brissaud), shown below. But mothers sewed little sailor suits for their children.

Rentrons Robe de plage de chez Beer

Rentrons (Let’s go home)
Robe de plage de Beer by Pierre Brissaud, 1920 (Photo credit: Google images)

La Gazette du Bon Ton: 1912 – 1925

La Gazette du Bon Ton was founded in 1912 by Lucien Vogel and Michel de Brunhoff  who later became the editor of Vogue Paris from 1929 to 1954. Lucien Vogel married Michel de Brunhoff’s sister, Cosette. Their brother, Jean de Brunhoof and his wife Cécile, created Babar the Elephant. Jean de Brunhoof died of tuberculosis at the age of thirty-seven, but his son, Laurent de Brunhoof, continued his father’s work.

I will end this post with a display of the illustrations executed by several artists who, at times, were also designers. Such is the case with Bernard Boutet de Monvel and his two cousins, Barbier and Brissaud. But I will also show the work of other illustrators, Georges Lepage, who worked for the French Gazette du Bon Ton, and American illustrator Helen Dryden, whose art is superb. These artists also contributed artwork to other magazines on both sides of the Atlantic: Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, Femina, Vogue and Les Feuillets d’art. Condé Nast owned the American Gazette du Bon Genre, examples of which can be read online. Click on: Gazette du Bon Genre.

Miniature ancienne, Bernard B. de Monvel

Miniature ancienne by Bernard B. de Monvel, 1913

(George Barbier & Paul Iribe) 

Parure d'hermine et de putois, George Barbier, 1913
Parure d’hermine et de putois, George Barbier, 1913
Paul Iribe
Paul Iribe
Bernard Boutet de Monvel, 1914

Le Matin, Place Vendôme by Bernard Boutet de Monvel, 1914

Costumes Parisiens, Pour Stl Moritz George Barbier

 (George Barbier, above and below)

La Belle aux Moineaux by George Barbier
La Belle aux Moineaux by George Barbier
Rendez-vous Villa Gori by George Barbier
Rendez-vous Villa Gori by George Barbier

(moineaux are sparrows)

Helen Dryden, May, 1921

Helen Dryden, May 1921

Le Jeu des Grâces, George Barbier

Le Jeu des Grâces,* George Barbier

* The Game of Graces

(Photo credit: L’Illustration, No. 3671, 5 Juillet 1913 [EBook #36357] (above and below)

Robes neuves, Georges Lepage

Robes neuves (New Dresses), Georges Lepage

Les Chiens suivent aussi la mode, Bernard B. de Monvel

Les Chiens suivent aussi la mode,* Bernard Boutet de Monvel

* Dogs also follow fashion.

RELATED POSTS

  • George Barbier’s Fêtes galantes (17 July 2014)
  • Leo Rauth’s “fin de siècle” Pierrot (27 June 2014)
  • The Ballets Russes, Vaslav Nijinsky & George Barbier (27 July, 2012)
  • The Ballets Russes & the News (12 July 2012)

Sources and Resources

  • Gazette du Bon Genre
  • L’Illustration, No. 3671, 5 Juillet 1913 [EBook #36357]

Conclusion

I feel I’ve travelled to another world. A world to which I do not belong. However, discussing Barbier and his colleagues does provide examples of the acceptability of the decorative arts, interior design, haute couture, posters. Design is everywhere, from dishes to arranging food on a plate.

Note the influence of japonisme: flat colours and diagonal lines. Barbier’s Pour St. Moritz, is an example of japonisme. We are also looking at creative minds working together and constituting a network. Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes were a beehive and a gathering place that attracted illustrators and designers. Living in such a milieu must have been very stimulating.

Where fashion is concerned, I did not mention Coco Chanel who triggered a revolution. Many women still dress à la Coco Chanel: elegance, but simplicity and comfort.

I must close.

My best regards to all of you.

____________________

[I] Illustrators associated with La Gazette du Bon Ton were George Barbier, Erté (Romain de Tirtoff), Paul Iribe, Pierre Brissaud, André Edouard Marty, Thayaht (Ernesto Michahelles), Georges Lepape, Edouard Garcia Benito, Sœurs David (David Sisters), Pierre Mourgue, Robert Bonfils, Bernard Boutet de Monvel, Maurice Leroy, Zyg Brunner, and others. These illustrators also worked for other fashion magazines.
 
[ii] Designers associated with La Gazette du Bon Ton were, to begin with, Louise Chéruit, Georges Dœuillet, Jacques Doucet, Jeanne Paquin, Paul Poiret, Redfern & Sons, and, after World War I, La Gazette du Bon Ton also showed Charles Worth. Étienne Drian, Gustav Beer, Kriegck, Larsen, Martial & Armand, and others. (see La Gazette du Bon Ton, Wikipedia.) 
 
Masques et Bergamasques, Gabriel Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924)
 
Bonnet de voyage, Georges Lepage

Bonnet de voyage, Georges Lepage

 
© Micheline Walker
16 August 2014 
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George Barbier’s Fêtes galantes

13 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by michelinewalker in Commedia dell'arte, French Literature

≈ Comments Off on George Barbier’s Fêtes galantes

Tags

Art Deco, Bernard Boutet de Monvel, commedia dell'arte, fashion illustration, George Barbier, Ginette Neveu violinist, Leo Rauth, les années folles, Maurice Boutet de Monvel, pochoir, Ravel's Tzigane, the Golden Twenties, Verlaine's Fêtes galantes

 
George Barbier

Cover by George Barbier (Photo credit: Wikimedia.org, all)

Pierrot et Arlequin, George Barbier

Pierrot and Harlequin by George Barbier

Art Deco

Jean-Gaspard Deburau
Charles Deburau (Jean-Gaspard’s son)
Jean-Louis Barrault
Pantomine and Mine
Les Enfants du Paradis 
 

A few weeks ago, I posted an article on “Leo Rauth’s fin de siècle Pierrot.” Leo Rauth died too young and under tragic circumstances. However, although Rauth‘s artwork predates George Barbier‘s (1882–1932), who is considered an Art Deco artist, both artists depicted commedia dell’arte stock characters: Pedrolino, or Pierrot formerly known as Gilles, and Harlequin (Arlecchino and Arlequin) and did so in “galant” fashion following in the footsteps of Jean-Antoine Watteau (10 October 1684 – 18 July 1721).

Pierrot is a major figure in France. He appears in the art of Antoine Watteau, a student of Claude Gillot (both eighteenth-century artists, middle and late). Pierrot then grows into Jean-Gaspard Deburau‘s Battiste, a role Charles Deburau, Jean-Gaspard’s son, inherited. Pierrot had entered the world of pantomime and mime.

These one-man performances were replacing entertainment by the large troupes of the commedia dell’arte and the Comédie-Italienne. Pierrot’s apotheosis is Baptiste, a role played by Jean-Louis Barrault in Les Enfants du Paradis, Paradise being distant and inexpensive seats or benches. Les Enfants du Paradis is a legendary film directed by Marcel Carné who used a text by Jacques Prévert.

Barbier as Fashion Illustrator

George Barbier: illustrator 
japonisme
Printmaking
“pochoirs” (stenciling)
engravings 
 

However, Leo Rauth differs from George Barbier. First, Barbier is considered an Art Deco artist. Second, he was a fashion illustrator at a time when haute couture was developing rapidly and the publishing industry sensed an opportunity it quickly seized. Moreover, japonisme, woodblock printing, would prove the technique of artists who needed copies of their work: posters, illustrations. Printmaking was not new to the western world. François Chauveau engraved the Carte de Tendre.

As you know, the fine arts diversified in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century due, to a large extent, to japonisme. Japanese prints flooded  Europe, France and England particularly. They were plentiful and therefore an inexpensive yet beautiful artwork. Illustrators needed such a tool.

Barbier, used pochoirs (stenciling)[I] that enabled him to make replicas of his designs, but many artists chose various forms of engraving. They made etchings (on copper usually), woodcuts (wood), linocuts (linoleum) or some other material.

Engraving is referred to as an intaglio technique. For instance, etchers trace their drawing into a “ground” applied to metal, they use acid to bite into the drawing. They then insert ink that flows into the engraved (etched) parts of the metal and, when pressed onto paper, only the engraved or etched parts of the pieces of metal, the image, will show on the paper. Artists and designers can also make reproductions of their work using lithography, silkscreens (stenciling) and pochoirs (also stenciling).

Chansons de France pour les petits enfants

Chansons de France pour les petits enfants Maurice B. de Monvel

The Boutet de Monvel Dynasty

Maurice Boutet de Monvel
his son: Bernard Boutet de Monvel
his nephews: George Barbier and Pierre Brissaud
 

George Barbier

George Barbier belonged to a dynasty. He was the nephew of Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel (1851– 1913) to whom we owe the Chansons de France pour les petits enfants, Jeanne d’Arc (online), illustrations of 22 Fables by Jean de La Fontaine  (online; see Sources and Resources).

Barbier was also a first cousin to, Bernard Boutet de Monvel, Maurice’s son as well as a first cousin to Maurice’s other nephew, Pierre Brissaud. All three were occasional designers and/or illustrators, or exclusively illustrators and designers.

Among a growing number of fashion magazines, the three cousins and numerous colleagues provided illustrations to La Gazette du Bon Ton, which was founded in 1912 by Lucien Vogel and was distributed by Condé Nast. Its American counterpart was La Gazette du Bon Genre, an Internet Archive publication (See Sources and Resources).

Barbier also designed theatre and ballet costumes. In fact, he helped Erté, Romain de Tirtoff (23 November 1892 – 21 April 1990) design sets and costumes for the Folies Bergère. In French “R” is pronounced er and “T,” té = Erté. In fact, Barbier led a group nicknamed “The Knights of the Bracelet,” by Vogue.

The Plane Crash: 28 October 1949

Bernard was also an interior designer, a portraitist, and the last of the Paris dandies, a work of art in himself. He died as he lived, conspicuously. Bernard B. de Monvel was killed in the Air France Lockheed Constellation crash of 28 October 1949, in the Azores. Among the forty-eight victims were world-champion boxer Marcel Cerdan  (aged 33), Edith Piaf‘s lover, and virtuoso violinist Ginette Neveu (aged 30). Benard B. de Monvel was 68.

Conclusion

As I was going through my neglected email, I found an advertisement for this pochoir.

art deco table

“Original pochoir by Bagge Huguet from La Gazette du Bon Ton, a leading Art Deco revue in Paris in the 1920s, showcasing the latest fashion and design. The Art Deco period was a highpoint in French art. Leading artists included Georges Lepape, Georges [sic] Barbier, Edouard Garcia Benito, Erté, and others.”

But let us look at Barbier’s reading of Fêtes galantes. Les Années folles, or the Golden Twenties, were a reborn fête galante, à la Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby (1925) that dictated a degree of resemblance between Rauth and Barbier. However, people danced the Charleston, not the sensual tango a product of the 1890s.

RELATED ARTICLE

  • Leo Rauth’s “fin de siècle” Pierrot (27 June 2014)

Sources and Resources

  • Gazette du Bon Genre (Internet Archive, in full)
  • Maurice Boutet de Monvel Jeanne d’Arc (Internet Archives, in full)
  • Maurice B. de Monvel La Fontaine (Bibliothèque numérique mondiale, in full)
  • Unless otherwise indicated, images are at Wikimedia.org

The Gallery

Harlequin, George Barbier

Harlequin by George Barbier

Harlequin, George Barbier

Harlequin by George Barbier

Harlequin, George Barbier
Harlequin, George Barbier
La Vénitienne, George Barbier
La Vénitienne, George Barbier
Harlequin, George Barbier

Harlequin by George Barbier (Photo credit: Tumbler)

 (Please click on the small images to enlarge them.)

Harlequin, George Barbier

Harlequin by George Barbier

Brighella & Pierrot, George Barbier

Brighella & Pierrot by George Barbier

images

 ___________________

[I] “stenciling.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 12 Aug. 2014. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/565251/stenciling>.

Ginette Neveu plays Maurice Ravel‘s Tzigane

 
by-barbier-georges-sketch-proposal-for-the-ballet-carnival-russian-ballets-of-diaghilev-theatre-company© Micheline Walker 
12 August 2014
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