George BARBIER

The silk weaving manufactory of Bianchini-Férier was founded in Lyon in 1888 by the designer Charles Bianchini and the financier François Férier, and the following year won a silver medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. Known for its innovative fabrics in bright colours, the firm became highly successful and soon expanded, opening offices in Paris, London, Brussels and, in 1909, New York. It also began working with such fashion designers as Poiret, Lanvin, Vionnet, Worth and Jean Patou. Bianchini-Férier also employed several artists and illustrators - notably George Barbier, Robert Bonfils, Paul Iribe, Alberto-Fabio Lorenzi and Charles Martin - to create designs for its textiles. Perhaps most famously, in 1912 the firm signed a contract with Raoul Dufy, who produced some four thousand designs for Bianchini-Férier fabrics until 1928. After the Second World War Bianchini-Férier continued to work closely with fashion designers, including Chanel, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Hubert de Givenchy, Christian Dior, Nina Ricci and Yves Saint-Laurent, among many others.

Drawn on the 16th of October 1919, the present sheet served as a design (no.14927) for a Bianchini-Férier textile entitled L’Île Mystérieuse, and a swatch of the related fabric is sold with this work.