Eduardo Benito Fashion Portfolio: 12 pochoir hand colored plates " La Derniere Lettre Persane"

SOLD 4-13-2015

Eduardo Garcia Benito’s La Derniere Lettre Persane is a series of twelve designs done for La Maison Fourrures Max in 1920 with an introduction by Eduardo Miguel Zamacois.  Inside the  ribbon tied folio are 12 individual pochoirs and 8 pages of text.  Following the great tradition of the grand houses of Paris that employed the great artists of the period to create their catalogues and advertisements, this is one of the most spectacular portfolios created in that genre.

The images are lithographed in fine line black and white with light woodblock embossing and then hand painted with metallic  gold and “acuarela” (watercolors ) applied in “Pochoir ” technique . What is remarkable is the restraint in the use of color. The use of the  vivid red is sparing but arresting. Merely a flower, a feather fan or the high heel of a shoe is done in a bright color, the rest in rich golds and black. The lithographs are not bound and are able to be framed. The 8 pages of text are embellished with unique lettering and lyrical  illustrations .

So stylized as to be almost avant garde representations of fashion publicity, these are considered to be high art of the Art Deco Period today.