Fantaisies Oceanographiques, 1926
In the early 1920's the elegant curves and subtle tones of the Art Noveau were giving way to the geometric patterns and bold colours of the Art Deco. The ideals of the Art & Crafts movement that developed alongside both styles were popularising new approaches and products as affordable alternatives making art and design more accessible. Wallpaper in place of tapestries and silk wall coverings being one such example.
An 'ensemblier' or 'artiste decoratuer', forerunner of the Interior Designer, would soon become essential for the aspiring fashionable with many employed by the Parisian grande magasins to create patterns for fabrics, wallpapers and rugs. Designs were created using the Pouchoir process, a stencil-based technique made popular by the fashion magazines and put together in 'ensemblier' portfolios.
Stencils had been in use since the 16th century but it was the influence of Japanese printing in the 19th century that saw the process further refined to create the Pouchoir technique, which required numerous stencils cut by a 'découpeur' from aluminium, copper, or zinc and eventually celluloid or plastic. These were then arranged by the 'coloristes' who used a variety of brushes and application methods to lay the pigments and create the finished article. At the height of its popularity, the Paris graphic design studios employed more than 500 'découpeurs' and 'coloristes'. This portfolio designed by E. H. Raskin for the studio of F. Dumas in the Fifth Arrondissement focused on sea life and was limited to 250 copies.
Although the popularity of Pouchoir prints would last throughout the 1930s, the exuberance of the Art Deco ended with Great Depression. Many of studios that employed so many craftsmen would slowly close and the designs for wallpaper and textiles would become subdued with smaller repeated details favouring charcoals, dusty browns and murky greens.
