In Italian Postcard, a Doric column and pediment at the center of this composition, together with other fragments of classical architecture and glimpses of calm water and skies, knit into an arrangement of shallow, angular planes. A pair of wineglasses on the right side of the composition refract the scene and intensify the overall effect of crystalline transparency. André Masson adapted this approach from Cubist painting early in his career.

Pierre Legrain, the inventive book binder and furniture designer of the Art Deco period who also worked in dialogue with Cubism’s abstract forms, made the sculptural frame for this picture. Four of the frame’s stepped shapes are covered in light-colored vellum (and two of them are also painted a brighter white) to introduce tones and textures in contrast with the glossy mahogany. The diagonal pieces at the bottom and the right side and the carved fluting at the top of the frame rhyme with Masson’s columns and wineglasses.