France
by Jean Gabriel Domergue
L'Hiver . Monte-Carlo
Domergue was a painter known for his high-style fashion drawings. His posters are populated with stunning women in glowing colors, portrayed with chivalrous flattery at their seductive best by someone for whom beauty was an inexhaustible well of inspiration. The artist lived a life nearly predisposed to that kind of attitude: his home was Monte Carlo and the Cote d'Azur where Europe's most glamorous women were frequently seen, with Domergue himself a member of the smart set he so often portrayed. The idea that the beautiful people wintered in the designer's chic stomping ground is conveyed here most effectively. This is Domergue at his best, depicting the sophisticates whose company he favored.