Pluviôse & Floréal Journal — Marthe Romme Art Déco Calendar 1919

In 1919, French designer Marthe Romme published a portfolio of fourteen hand-coloured pochoir lithographs illustrating the months of the French Republican Calendar. Two of them appear on the covers of this journal: Pluviôse, the month of rain, and Floréal, the month of flowers — vivid, geometric, and unmistakably Art Déco.

The front cover reproduces Pluviôse — an elegant figure in a wide blue checked dress, her red and white parasol tilted against the wind, caught mid-stride in a gust of rain. In the upper right corner, the inscription reads: Jamais pluie dans le printemps ne passa pour un mauvais temps — Never was rain in springtime considered bad weather. The back cover presents Floréal — a woman in a white vaporous dress adorned with a circular garland of multicoloured flowers, her posture suggesting dance, set against a solid black background that throws the vivid colours into sharp relief. Above her: Nous n'irons plus au bois, les lauriers sont coupés — a famous French nursery rhyme celebrating the return of spring. Both plates were coloured by pochoir, a hand-stencilling technique that applies pigment layer by layer, making each impression subtly unique.

Product Details

• Format: Hardcover journal
• Pages: 150 lined pages (75 sheets) with perforations for easy removal
• Binding: Casewrap sewn binding — flexible and lay-flat
• Dimensions: 5.75 × 8 inches
• Weight: 100 g
• Cover: Matte laminated full-wrap print
• Note: small production barcode (0.5" × 0.5") on back cover

Perfect For

• Lovers of Art Déco illustration and early 20th-century French fashion art
• Admirers of the pochoir technique and hand-coloured print traditions
• Those drawn to the French Republican Calendar and its poetic month-names
• Fashion historians, collectors, and students of decorative arts
• Thoughtful gift for Francophiles, art lovers, and journal enthusiasts
• Anyone captivated by the idea that rain makes the flowers possible

Read the story of Marthe Romme, the pochoir technique, and the French Republican Calendar on our blog: Rain and Flowers: Marthe Romme and the Art Déco Calendar, 1919.