George Barbier (Nantes, 1882 - Paris, 1932)

A painter and illustrator, George Barbier studied in Nantes before entering the studio of Jean-Paul Laurens at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts* in Paris. He first came to public attention with an exhibition of some ninety drawings at the Galerie Boutet de Monvel in Paris in 1911. Among the leading illustrators of the Art Deco* movement, Barbier provided fashion plates for some of the leading couturiers of the period, notably Paul Poiret, Jeanne Lanvin and Madeleine Vionnet.

Characterized by a refinement and elegance which epitomized the Art Deco era, much of Barbier’s work took the form of fashion illustrations for such magazines as La Gazette du Bon Ton (for which he also wrote), <...