“This poster, which launched the career of both Josephine Baker and Paul Colin, is one of the finest examples of Art Deco work in this medium and created a great impression in the field of poster art. That it was almost accidentally created, in a great rush, by an unknown painter and an obscure dancer who had never previously met each other, gives the story the added quality and appeal of a fairy tale... In his memoirs, Jacques Charles, the famed music hall producer... called in to give form to the revue, takes much of the credit for picking Josephine Baker as the star of the show, which was billed as ‘La Revue Nègre.’ 

His picture of a demure Josephine Baker, unwilling to perform in scanty dress, is at odds with Colin’s recollection. This is how Paul Colin remembers it... ‘I had observed the troupe for two or three hours in rehearsals, and I knew what to do. The star was a fine woman, but too hefty and physically not very interesting. So I looked among the girls for a more pleasing subject and I found a very beautiful girl, above all a very beautiful body. Her head was like that of many Negro women, very nice but then any average face can be transformed into something approaching beauty with the proper application of make-up, but you can’t change a woman’s breasts or her legs so easily. So I looked for one such perfect body, and I found her: Josephine Baker... La Baker was in my studio, completely nude, sensational in her perfection. I convinced the Theatre’s administration to make her the star instead of the heavy-set Negro lady... Then we organized a great theatrical event, a gala evening in the theatre, with dinner, including caviar and champagne. The next morning she was hailed unanimously by the Parisian press. The papers proclaimed ‘The Black Venus in Paris’ and Josephine’s career was launched” (Colin, p. 7).

No doubt Colin takes a bit too much credit, but what is sure is that thanks to Colin and this poster, Josephine became the toast of the town and the two became lifelong friends. What is also clear, as Jean-Claude Baker indicates in his excellent biography, “Josephine: The Hungry Heart,” is that Colin at that time relied heavily on the published caricatures of black performers by Miguel Covarrubias (p. 113).