This postcard is for Loreto, who recently posted about Art Deco illustrator Rafael de Penagos. Penagos had a penchant for drawing flappers and modern girls, so much so that "la mujer Penagos" (the Penagos woman) became the emblem of the new woman in Spanish culture. As Loreto points out, the bathing beauty on the beach symbolized the emergence of women in the public sphere. The woman on the beach charted a new freedom of movement, both in relation to physical space and to the physicality of her own body.
I'm not sure who this lady is, but I'm wondering if she may be 1920s Shanghai actress Ni Hongyan (if DJ of The Chinese Mirror is reading this, maybe he can identify her). In any case, she is definitely a sister of "la mujer Penagos".
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