The chap book Thanksgiving no. 1895

Curator: Immediately I'm getting such a distinct seasonal vibe from this, what do you think? Editor: I'm seeing it too! And I get this feeling like floating, even. It's visually so striking with its high contrast, almost a stained glass feel. How about you? Curator: Right, and what we are looking at is "The Chap Book Thanksgiving No.," a poster designed in 1895 by Will Bradley, a really interesting figure in the American Art Nouveau movement. He straddled commercial art and a distinctly symbolist style. The poster itself is advertising the Thanksgiving issue of The Chap Book, a monthly literary magazine. Editor: Symbolism, for sure! There's something both celebratory and maybe a little haunting about those stylized figures offering platters of...fruit, maybe? And it all feels so dreamlike, not quite anchored to reality. Almost as though we’re getting into some dream world. It all seems very stylized. Curator: Yes, absolutely. This is a prime example of how images absorb layers of cultural meaning over time. Consider how the Art Nouveau elements -- the flowing lines and flat colors-- are actually working here to evoke feelings of abundance but also this spiritual quietude associated with the Thanksgiving season. Those heavy cloaks or gowns might remind viewers today of, I don't know, pilgrims almost, and it pulls from familiar associations with autumn harvest iconography that existed. Editor: And they almost look like queens offering bounty. What's neat is this visual compression. The design itself almost seems a little crowded, doesn’t it? A whole feast crammed into these small serving dishes held by figures cloaked in autumnal colors. It brings us a little discomfort when we look at the trays to eat but this makes us think a little bit more as viewers. Curator: That subtle tension makes sense if you see the magazine, and its advertising, as part of a burgeoning consumer culture, finding ways to merge older symbols of plenty with emerging ideas of bourgeois abundance and cultural refinement. You could easily draw the same contrast between then and now. Editor: Right! It almost wants you to taste that world by buying it or trying to embody its taste or fashion by experiencing what it sells. Maybe we are just projecting on this? Curator: Possibly. Regardless, even after all this time, the poster is such a powerful distillation of themes that recur during the autumn and early winter season in America: family, thankfulness, memory, commerce... Editor: Totally. This poster offers more than a visual style to copy; it feels more like a whole mood and period to get lost inside.