Georges Lepape

Georges Lepape, 1887 – 1971, was a Paris born fashion illustrator. Lepape used his work to convey motion in fashion and often pictured models leaving the viewing frame or turning away from the viewer. He produced patriotic and sentimental illustrations . The designer’s curvilinear creations, influenced by Orientalism and the Ballets Russes was very influential. Lepape used colour blocking in his 2D work and was fascinated by oriental prints.

Between 1908 and 1910, he attended Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. It was in 1909 when he met Paul Poiret who was a haute couture designer and began their collaboration together. Lepape started to illustrate for Poiret and in 1911 illustrated his limited-edition album of work “Les Choses de Paul Poiret”. Lepape worked with quite a few brands, such as Lucien Vogel from 1912 – 1925 when he became a primary contributor to the Paris fashion magazine Gazette de Bon Ton. As well as this, Lepape worked freelance with quite a few magazines, such as Harper’s Bazaar, Femina, Les Feuillets d’Art and Vogue. This is the work of Lepape that I will be looking at and be influenced by.

UK Vogue publisher, Conde Nast, commissioned Lepape to create the first cover of the UK Vogue in 1916. Lepape’s son recalled, ‘the covers Lepape prepared for Vogue were more than a series of ravishing images. They were a succession of surprises, each new one as delightful as the last...Readers looked forward to their next issue of Vogue with all the more pleasure since they knew it would look different every time.’ Lepape continued his work with Vogue up until the mid-30s and produced a total of 114 covers. William Packer has noted of Lepape, ‘From the first his covers for Vogue were models of refinement, simplicity and visual wit...Seen as a whole this body of work stands as a splendid and remarkable achievement, a sustained demonstration of graphic resource, invention and technique of a very high order indeed.’ Lepape became a very popular and sought after illustrator. He also worked for the houses of Worth, Lanvin, Paquin, Doucet, and Beer. As well as luxury goods brands, theatre programs, costumes and set designs, catalogue illustration, film posters, and a series of posters for Galeries Lafayette.

Information - https://www.askart.com/artist/George_Lepape/11048533/George_Lepape.aspx

Quotes - https://www.stephenongpin.com/artist/236526/georges-lepape

Analysis of Lepape’s Work

This print is one of Georges Lepape’s vintage Vogue posters. He created the Vogue posters from 1916 until the mid 1930s and made 114 in total. I couldn’t find any information about this particular poster, however I do know that Lepape’s simple 2D designs were full of wit and interest for viewers. Unlike anything viewers had seen before, Lepape’s work showed his models in full movement rather than just standing or posing stationary. In that sense, he gave more power to his work, showing that women had more strength and opportunity than just standing still for the societal gaze. Lepape’s work was incredibly popular with women and Vogue readers, they awaited his new releases with an eagerness. Personally, I really enjoy Lepape’s style, whilst it is simplistic, I enjoy how he makes the women look beautiful and glamorous. I particularly like this print because f the woman’s style. She is wearing her smart going out clothes and looks all done up. I also like how the piece is a full body shot, we’re not just looking at part of her face but can see almost all of the woman apart from below the knees. I believe that to create his prints, Lepape will have used watercolour paints or coloured pencils. This is because of the slight grain on the images and the colour concentrations. Lepape probably hand sketched his outline first and then added colour, this is evident in the clear blocks of colour that make up his work. This image has quite a lot of negative space, the woman is stood on what appears to be the outskirts of a city. She looks longingly over her shoulder at the towering silhouettes of the city. Maybe she longs to go back there or has just fled. Either way, I find this work to be fascinating, I like how Lepape wasn’t afraid to break the norms of design when creating this magazine cover. This piece is relevant to my work because it has strong connections the Roaring Twenties and the glamour of this world. It is sophisticated and unique, showing what life was like for those in the 20s. Inspired by this print I would like to create my own poster design and incorporate all of the 20s excitement and glamour.