In Paris, from about 1900 to 1912, many if the leading artists were producing portfolios of decorative compositions by the pochoir stencil technique. Their designs ranged in style & color from the flamboyant, saturated colors of the imensely popular Ballets Russes to the subtle and much less intensive hues of Vincent Boberman, whose work depended more on contrasts of depth than those created by color. The pochoir process was a simple technique in theory-a stencil process of reproducing color- but it was a labor-intensive process, requiring the skills of more than one person. After the artist designed an image, the pochoir craftsman cut the stencils, mixed the paint. decided how many different applications of color were needed (and in what order), and applied the medium under the guidance of the artist/designer. Some pochoir prints could require as mana as 80 different stencils. The advantages of the process were its great flexibility in variety and depth of color and the sharpness & clarity of its outlines. The process became obsoete in the 1930's with the coming of the Great Depression. It was simply too expensive to maintain. Modern methods, such as silk screening, or the serigraphic technique, provided a less costly and more mechanical means of producing graphics. E. Mackus