Hermès Métamorphoses par Hermès-Paris Scarf

Some games are centuries old. Like the optical game that allows one drawing of a face to contain several portraits at once. The Emile Hermès Collection includes several fine examples – doubtless the inspiration for Philippe Dumas’s extraordinary gallery, here. With patience, we might decipher and enumerate the many different characters depicted on this carré. Even then, we will surely find ourselves multiplying the result by two or even three: turn the composition around, and you will soon see that one man’s face conceals another, a horse becomes a female portrait bust, a cat becomes a head in a hat, and a cow becomes a man with a very large nose… A carré to enjoy over and over again: a design to hone our perception and whet the imagination.