George Barbier (1882-1932) was one of the most highly regarded illustrators of the early 20th century Art Deco movement. His 1910s and 1920s fashion illustrations are among some of the most evocative of their period, and tempered with an unexpected sense of humour and liveliness. Perhaps more successfully than any other fashion illustrator of his period, Barbier’s art combined elegant poise and impeccable chic with a broad streak of mischievous comedy. Unlike other illustrators, the clothes in his drawings were usually of his own design, rather than reproducing the work of couture houses such as Chéruit, Worth, and Beer, although he did illustrate a number of their gowns for Le Bon Ton.
The illustrations in this series of four posts are all from issues of Barbier’s Falbalas et Fanfreluches, which was one of several luxury magazines produced by popular illustrators and artists of the day during the 1910s and 1920s. These “editions de luxe” were exclusively created for the collector’s market. Barbier produced several such editions de luxe along with providing illustrations for extremely limited-edition (up to about 100 copies), high-quality productions of poems and literary works by the likes of Baudelaire, Verlaine and Pierre Louÿs. A somewhat racy Barbier-illustrated 1929 edition of Louÿs’s Le Chansons di Bilitis was limited to 25 editions.
To describe Barbier’s work for these magazines as fashion plates is not necessarily accurate. Although drawn in his characteristically elegant, ultra-fashionable style, many of the plates illustrate fantasy interpretations of period costumes and folk dress drawn with Barbier’s typical flair and panache. This post showcases some of Barbier’s internationally themed prints. Keep watching for further Barbier posts…
Note: Some of the images in this post might appear insensitive and/or offensive to modern eyes. However, they are included here in order to offer a fair representation of the artist’s work, and should be considered in their historical context.
“Once upon a time” in France…
A flavour of Scotland…
A Mexican serenade…
A “pretty islander” from the Antilles
A Slovakian romance…
And a happy ending in Switzerland.