Fleurs (Flowers), Title Page

Title page for the pochoir pattern book with with Cubist floral designs created by Serge Gladky and published in Paris by Editions Synth in 1929, of which 375 copies were printed (this copy is not numbered). The book consists of 2 half-titles, a title page, 2 unnumbered leaves of introductory text, and 26 unnumbered plates, bound on faded blue linen boards. Each plate consists of one design of the Art Deco style, which was characterized by its eclecticism, drawing from a variety of sources that sought to combine old European design traditions with the modern style diffused by avant-garde art, while also reflecting the romantic fascination with early Egyptian and Meso-American "exotic" cultures promoted by archaeological discoveries of the times. The designs in the book, according to Gladky's indtroduction, are representative of Cubism, responsible for a renewed dynamism in the decorative arts; the simplicity and assymmetrical character of Cubist designs, with its colors and lines, make them three-dimensional rather than plain. Cubism, he argues, responds to a novel way in which humans are viewing the world around them, and is a recompense to those that have found a way of bringing to life a new type of eternal beauty.