Paris Fashions
Pochoirs from the 30s & 40s
Exhibition, March 10 to May 3, 2007
Pochoir is the French word for stencil. This term is usually applied to a class of print that is hand-coloured through a series
of carefully made forms (mostly cut from zink or copper sheets). A printed outline of the design is originally produced and then carefully
hand-brushed. Each separate colour requires a different stencil (some pochoirs have had up to 250). The paints used are mainly watercolour based
or gouache but some works in oil have also been made. An ancient technique originating in China, it was much in vogue in Paris during the early decades
of the twentieth century. Though hardly known here in Canada some artists, notably A. J. Casson, made use of the process on occasion.