A single art postcard reproducing the front cover of Vanity Fair magazine for May 1921. The design shows a bobbed-haired young woman in a plunging scarlet dress striding barefoot across a green bank, a trailing spray of pink roses in one hand, set against billowing grey-white clouds, silhouetted black rocks and a pale strip of water. The masthead reads VANITY FAIR in white capitals on a dark grey band across the top, and the foot of the image carries the printed lines May - 1921, Condé Nast Publisher and 35 cts - $3.50 a year. The image sits within a white border.

The reverse is a plain cream divided-back postcard layout headed VANITY FAIR, with the printed wording THIS SPACE MAY BE USED FOR PRINTED OR WRITTEN MATTER, ONLY THE ADDRESS TO BE WRITTEN HERE, a ruled address panel, a stamp box top right, and a small credit in the lower left corner reading Vanity Fair, May 1921 / André E. Marty. The card is blank and unwritten.

Background
Vanity Fair was relaunched by Condé Nast in 1913 and ran in its original form until 1936, and its covers from that period are among the most admired graphic design of the Jazz Age. The May 1921 cover is the work of André Édouard Marty, a French illustrator associated with the Gazette du Bon Ton who also contributed to Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, and whose flat colour, elongated figures and strong silhouettes are characteristic of French Art Deco fashion illustration.

This is a modern reproduction postcard rather than a period item. It comes from the collection Vintage Postcards from Vanity Fair: One Hundred Classic Covers, 1913-1936, published in 2011 with an introduction by then-editor Graydon Carter (ISBN 9781846144677), which gathered a hundred of the magazine's best-known covers as usable postcards. Cards from that collection are popular for framing, mounting and display because they carry a well-printed Art Deco image at a very modest price.

Condition
Brand new and unused. The card is unused and unposted, with a clean unmarked back and no writing, stamp or postmark. The printed image is sharp and the colours are strong, with no fading. Corners are square and the edges are clean, with no creasing, bends, foxing, staining or surface scuffing found on inspection. Supplied loose as a single postcard, without packaging or backing board beyond the protective packing used for posting. Please review all of the photographs closely, as they show the actual item you will receive and form part of this description.

Who it's for
This will suit Art Deco and 1920s design enthusiasts, collectors of fashion illustration and Condé Nast cover art, deltiologists who collect modern reproduction and magazine-cover cards, and anyone after an inexpensive image to frame or mount for a hallway, dressing room or study. It also works well for scrapbooking, journalling, collage and card-making.

Estimated Date
The cover image is dated May 1921, printed on both the front ("May - 1921") and the reverse credit line, and is by André E. Marty. The postcard itself is a modern reproduction, printed 2011 or later, matching the 2011 collection Vintage Postcards from Vanity Fair: One Hundred Classic Covers, 1913-1936.

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