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On loan

  • On short term loan out for exhibition

Cosmetic harmony

Trade Literature
1930 to 1939 (published)
Artist/Maker
Elizabeth Arden (publisher)
Elizabeth Arden Inc
Unknown (designer)
Place of origin
London (published)

Cosmetic harmony.
Elizabeth Arden Inc.
Publisher: London : Elizabeth Arden, [193-?]
Notes:
Cover title : Elizabeth Arden : London : 25 Old Bond Street, W.
"Elizabeth Arden has created shades in cosmetics that blend perfectly with each other and are in harmony with the natural skin tones. The following pages give an indication of the different shades of make=up [sic]. The vividness of the colours when applied on the skin will differ slightly with individual use."



Object details

Categories
Advertising
Fashion
National Art Library
Object type
trade literature
TitleCosmetic harmony (published title)
Materials and techniques
[12] leaves : coloured illustrations; 25cm single section with figure of eight sewing, in case binding with silver paper cover Bound in silver papered boards with 'Elizabeth Arden' and the address of the shop and 10 six-pointed stars printed in pink on upper cover Paper (fibre product) boards (binding components) -- England 1930-1939.
Brief description
Cosmetic harmony. Elizabeth Arden Inc. 1930s
Physical description
Cosmetic harmony.
Elizabeth Arden Inc.
Publisher: London : Elizabeth Arden, [193-?]
Notes:
Cover title : Elizabeth Arden : London : 25 Old Bond Street, W.
"Elizabeth Arden has created shades in cosmetics that blend perfectly with each other and are in harmony with the natural skin tones. The following pages give an indication of the different shades of make=up [sic]. The vividness of the colours when applied on the skin will differ slightly with individual use."



Dimensions
  • Length: 248mm (closed) (Note: Measured in Book Conservation measuring box)
  • Width: 182mm (closed) (Note: Measured in Book Conservation measuring box)
  • Depth: 7mm (closed) (Note: Measured in Book Conservation measuring box)
Open dimensions approx: D: 248 x W: 340 x H: 90 or 210 with upstand
Style
20th
Production typeMass produced
Gallery label
(2018)
Group label: Printing a Modern World: commercial graphics of the 1930s
As the world recovered from the economic crash of 1929–30, efforts were made to stimulate consumption and revive the global economy. In the 1930s there were advances in many areas of manufacturing and technology that reached into every aspect of daily life from construction to domestic chores to entertainment. In the UK, a government report championed the involvement of artists in design and manufacturing.
The belief that new technologies and commodities would improve daily life was a reflection of the ideas of Modernism. Many designers, and the visionaries in the companies who employed them, regarded their work as an instrument of social service. They also felt that good design and eye-catching promotional material would contribute to commercial success. In this way, the developments in materials, energy, communication, and consumer goods in the 1930s were popularised for a mass market.
All the items displayed here are from the National Art Library’s Jobbing Printing Collection.
(2018)
Cosmetic harmony
London, 1930s
Make-up became more acceptable and popular in the 1930s, thanks to entrepreneurs like Elizabeth Arden and the example of Hollywood screen stars. Cream eyeshadow in a wide range of colours, lip gloss and waterproof mascara became widely available. This booklet’s metallic cover and the delicate shades within reflected the décor of Arden's New York salon, heralded in Fortune magazine for its ‘combination of hard-edged industrial forms and “ultra-feminine” pastels’.
Halftone and screenprint
Issued by Elizabeth Arden Ltd
Museum no. 38041800554491
From 'The New Line', De La Warr Pavilion, 2016-17
Elizabeth Arden
c.1936
Designer unknown

During the 1930s, the press nicknamed commercial rivalry between Elizabeth Arden and Max Factor the ‘Hollywood Powder Puff War’, acknowledging the role Hollywood cinema had to play in the formation of a particular idea of female beauty and identity. Twenty years earlier, Arden had participated in a different type of struggle, the women’s suffrage movement, distributing red lipstick to the suffragettes. This booklet shows off Arden’s cosmetics colour range.

On loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum
Group label from 'The New Line', De La Warr Pavilion, 2016-17

This exhibition of commercial print from the 1930s includes material designed by Serge Chermayeff, Edward McKnight Kauffer, Paul Nash, Eric Ravilious, Graham Sutherland and László Moholy-Nagy, alongside films by Len Lye commissioned by the General Post Office Film Unit and Churchman Cigarettes.
Europe in the 1930s underwent enormous social, political, cultural and technological change. To capture some of these changes through contemporary commercial print, Philip James at the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum developed the ‘Jobbing Printing Collection’. He requested samples of work from high-profile companies, artists and designers in Europe and North America, including items designed by members of the Bauhaus school, made for shops such as Fortnum & Mason, and for companies such as Elizabeth Arden, Shell and Imperial Airways.
The New Line presents a selection of items from the NAL’s collection, including lifestyle and trade magazines, beauty catalogues, tourism brochures and a sample chart for stockings. It highlights how the movement of people across borders, often escaping oppressive political regimes, led to the exchange of ideas and aesthetics, and the formation of new expressions of modernity. It also shows how interconnected art, design and industry were throughout the 1930s.
Alongside material from the V&A National Art Library’s Jobbing Printing Collection are items from private collections.
Researcher: Sandy Jones
Credit line
Acquired from Elizabeth Arden, December 1937.
Object history
Collection of examples of commercial printing and design including catalogues and books as well as a variety of ephemera such as magazine covers, promotional cards, loose sheets, book plates, book jackets, trade cards, advertisement proofs, wine labels, menu cards etc. Firms include Shell-Mex, Austin Reed, Guinness, Heals, Imperial Airways, Orient Line. Designers include McKnight Kauffer, El Lissitsky, Bawden, Bayer, Gill, Tschichold. Categories of material include architecture, broadcasting, costume, interior design, motor industry, food and drink.

In 1936 the National Art Library decided to lay the foundations of a "collection of commercial typography and to exhibit contemporary specimens from time to time so that the trend of typographic design, both in this country and abroad, could be appraised by students of industrial art". The Keeper of the Library, Philip James was largely instrumental in acquiring the material. The bulk of the collection consists of examples from the 1930s, especially 1936 - 1939, with a smattering of items from the 1940s.
The collection is further supplemented with material from the 1960s which the Library inherited from the Circulation Department of the Museum after its closure in 1978. As these two groups of material stand as historic collections in their own right, any further examples acquired by the Library have been catalogued individually and not added to this designated 'closed collection'.
Other numbers
  • JP Box 12 - NAL Pressmark
  • 461578 - Horizon bib. number
Collection
National Art Library
Library number
38041800554941

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Record createdApril 14, 2016
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1348551/cosmetic-harmony-trade-literature-unknown/
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