Fleurs

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 with a single design each, bound on faded blue linen boards.

In the introductory text, Gladky explains the ways in which the rhythm of the "Ville Lumiere" (City of Light, Paris) reflects the eternal movement and its ever-changing character, which contrasts strikingly with what he calls the "eternal beauty" of design in the Far East, which to him is nothing but a pure and primitive comprehension of the eternal beauty of nature. Responding to the ever-changing character of Paris, artists introduced a new dynamism in the field of decorative arts, with Cubism taking an essential role in this change. According to Gladky, 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.

Following this text are 26 designs 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.