La Mode Illustrée, Journal de la Famille, 1882 1882

Editor: This is "La Mode Illustrée, Journal de la Famille," a mixed-media print created in 1882 by Firmin-Didot & Cie, currently held at the Rijksmuseum. I’m immediately drawn to the textures rendered in the women’s clothing. It has such intricacy. What compositional elements stand out to you the most? Curator: The most compelling aspects reside in the contrasts – note the calculated juxtaposition of forms. The verticality of the figures countered by the horizontality of the table and patterned floor. Further observe how line quality shapes form. Consider the sharp delineations against the soft blending of watercolors. How does this deliberate employment of contrasts affect the visual reading of the print, in your opinion? Editor: Well, it almost makes it feel as though they aren't really there; the vertical versus horizontal emphasizes the artifice, or staged-ness of the illustration, making the figures seem to exist as lines and color rather than fully dimensional people. Curator: Precisely! The spatial ambiguity enhances the print's status as an object. One recognizes, then, its flatness and crafted quality through the linear configurations and the considered arrangement of its planes. In that sense, what's the essential meaning or aesthetic proposition advanced through this emphasis? Editor: I think I'm starting to understand how form alone can carry meaning. In this print, it almost seems the message IS the medium! I wouldn’t have seen it without discussing the artistic methods that underscore the theme. Curator: And that appreciation of form, my dear student, opens pathways for further decoding of any artistic undertaking. Thank you.