“- Oh, Madame Chaboulard, I wonder what will happen in the twelve months to come... the New Year starts on a Friday! … - I don't care, I am not superstitious… I only believe in the number 13 and in spiders!,” plate 477 from Actualités 1858

Curator: Honoré Daumier’s 1858 lithograph, “- Oh, Madame Chaboulard, I wonder what will happen in the twelve months to come... the New Year starts on a Friday! … - I don't care, I am not superstitious… I only believe in the number 13 and in spiders!,” is quite striking. My initial impression is one of austere social commentary, emphasized by the almost architectural structure of the composition and the use of linear perspective. Editor: My first thought on seeing this is its commentary on material life. Lithography, as a commercial print process, democratized image distribution. It's a medium born of social shifts, speaking directly to everyday experiences. Curator: Exactly! Daumier masterfully exploits lithography’s capacity for tonal gradations. Note the precise cross-hatching that builds volume and shadow. Semiotically, it echoes a graphic language accessible to a broad audience while providing incredible opportunities for detail. The work becomes more than just an image; it's a communication. Editor: And think about the conditions of its production! These prints were produced rapidly, for mass consumption. The choice of paper, the ink used—everything points to an urgency in communicating to and capturing the attention of a specific urban demographic amidst social upheaval. How do you read the gestures of these two figures, as material witnesses to that very dynamic? Curator: The stark realism in their portrayal underscores a sort of resigned humor. The skeletal, almost grotesque depiction lends itself to satire, while the balanced arrangement suggests a certain universality to their concerns about time and fate. This resonates on the level of the image's structure—a study in contrasts of light and shadow that creates this kind of balance and suggests stability in chaos. Editor: True, and what I find more telling is that this was reproduced en masse and sold for pennies in the street—a powerful intersection of accessibility and critique, crafted with the speed and exigency befitting the press era. It shows how far the tools for disseminating narratives and visual tropes have advanced within specific production economies and the nature of labor. Curator: Well, seeing it through your materialist lens gives me a fresh appreciation for Daumier’s awareness of production and distribution. Editor: Likewise, I gain more awareness about the print's compositional depth—that, together with his technical genius, elevates it from being a fleeting comment to something of a lasting meditation.