Spring into Summer
A belated hellooooo October! Again I find myself apologising not only for this tardy posting, but my continued absence. My drawing board and typewriter have taken me away from SNAP of late.
Isn’t this cover of the June 1938 issue of Vogue lovely? It is by a French artist René Bouët-Willaumez. He was commonly known as Willaumez, and worked first for the French (in 1929), then British editions of Vogue. In the first year of WWII he, along with many other European illustrators, moved to New York. Thereafter he worked only for American Vogue.
His brushy and fluid style was influenced by one of my favourite illustrators of the era: Carl Erickson. His illustrations show such confidence and deft handling of brush and paint. There is nothing hesitant in his linework. Dramatic lighting, defined modelling and striking and unusual colour combinations are hallmarks of his work.
This ‘Summer Fashion and Festivities’ cover is beautifully elegant and unpredictable, and how refreshing to see how daring Vogue was once upon a time: showing the back of the model! And how tiny is the masthead? Can you imagine them trying this today? Of course, this cover was executed in the daring heydey of fashion illustration, and there was much less competition on the newsstands too.
Have a happy October!
The Turn of the Seasons
It’s time to turn the calendar over once more, and I must first apologise for my rare appearances on SNAP these days – other things have been keeping me busy. But more importantly, happy spring! Or, happy autumn if you are in the northern hemisphere. This Vogue cover from August 1927 is certainly more appropriate for you northerners at any rate.
The painting is by Georges Lepape (1887–1971), one of my favourite illustrators of the Art Deco period. He was influenced by orientalism – as evidenced by his flat, two-dimensional style – and the Ballets Russes. Lepape illustrated for magazines such as Gazette du Bon Ton, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue as well as illustrating advertisements for his own clients – Paul Poiret, Jean Patou, Hermès – during his long career.
Have a lovely and fruitful September.
Art Deco Simplicity
How great is this Summer Functions Vogue cover from May 1929 featuring a woman with an extra-long right arm? And they say models today have freakish shapes!
Guillermo Bolin is another fashion illustrator of the Art Deco period that I have only discovered through my 2014 calendar of vintage Vogue covers. He was Spanish and, based in New York, worked with American Vogue approximately from 1924 to 1935, creating numerous incidental illustrations and vignettes, as well as covers.
His illustrations often featured flat geometric shapes in the background, taking the human figure completely out of context, but that gives them even more graphic impact. I also love that the editor of that time didn’t spoil the minimalist lines of the drawing with a zillion coverlines.
I’m excited to turn this page simply because it means there is only one more month of winter. Have a great August!
Self Portrait With Thorns
Self Portrait with Thorns, Frida Khalo (1940)Recently I was amused when I completed a quiz called ‘Which Famous Painting Are You?’ via Facebook. I, apparently, am Frida Khalo’s Self Portrait With Thorns (1940). I was quite pleased with this result because Khalo was one feisty, gutsy lady who suffered terribly for most of her life from injuries received in an accident when she was 18, and yet she did not succumb to them. Taking up painting during her recovery period, she mined her experiences to create extraordinary, powerful works of art, and is now one of the most well-known of Mexican artists.
I was more amused when a couple of friends also completed the quiz and disgustedly reported getting Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss!
Leap of Freedom
To welcome in a particularly grey July, I flipped my calendar page to this glorious and surreal paean to summer, by the artist Miguel Covarrubias. The issue is titled London in Summer, from August 1937. I love the tiny figure of a man in evening dress being buried in sand, and who doesn’t love the idea of leaping over a giant seashell – dressed in a sequinned silver swimsuit, no less – on such a sunny day?
Miguel Covarrubias (1904–1957) was a Mexican painter and caricaturist that I have not actually heard of before now. He moved to New York at the tender age of 19 where he found success, with his artwork and celebrity caricatures being featured in Vanity Fair and The New Yorker.
Happy July, whichever hemisphere you spend it in.