French and African

[Woven silk furnishing fabric by Rodier, French, 1920s. V & A collection.]

Explaining what some call a polarizing choice of music for his new film, The Great Gatsby, Baz Luhrmann says he wants audiences, especially younger movie goers, to react as teens and young adults in the 1920s responded to jazz, with it's African and African-American roots. This made me think about the visual realm and how African patterns influenced fabric design in Europe during the same period. So, wrapping up the week of Roaring Twenties style, here's an example by Rodier.

The soft grey and white palette reflects a French sensibility, the mix of shine with matte threads seems to be on trend for the era, and according to the V & A, the chevron pattern shows a penchant for African-inspired graphics.

[Silk with metallic thread. Woven by Bianchini-Férier, Lyons, France. Collection of Philadelphia Museum of Art.]

At first glance, Raoul Dufy's printed satin La Chasse à l'arc feels quintessentially Parisian. The 1928, black and gold lamé design is a whimsical floral with creatures from Africa -- lions and elephants --incorporated among the densely packed blossoms. But, in a way, Dufy's preference for flattened, highly stylized interpretations of flowers shows how European artists of the day took cues from abstract African art.

Slightly random note: I read that Gatsby production designer Catherine Martin opted to use fanciful inflatable zebras in a party scene after finding similar play things in period photos.