Le Petit Chaperon Rouge 1899

Curator: Lucien Pissarro created this intriguing woodcut engraving titled "Le Petit Chaperon Rouge" in 1899. The name itself, of course, is Little Red Riding Hood. Editor: It’s quite unsettling. The heavy contrast and claustrophobic composition make the forest feel like a menacing presence, not just a backdrop. Curator: Indeed. Pissarro masterfully employs the medium to create a palpable tension. Observe the density of the engraved lines forming the trees; it's almost suffocating. The restricted palette emphasizes form, highlighting the relationship between light and shadow. Editor: And the symbolism is just dripping. The innocent Red Riding Hood, rendered in stark white, is kneeling, almost as if in supplication. But it's the wolf, lurking in the darkness of the woods – partially obscured, almost integrated with the trees themselves – that really speaks volumes. Curator: Precisely. The blurring of boundaries—the figure almost disappearing into the landscape—achieves a flattening of pictorial space, emphasizing the artificiality and artifice inherent to the work, in accordance to Symbolist principles. Consider the frame too; it’s integral. Editor: A perfect symbolic boundary between civilization and the wilderness, the known and the unknown. That frame does its job. What gets me is how enduring the symbols of fairy tales are: the innocent child, the threatening woods, and the ever-present danger lurking within. Red Riding Hood reminds us about facing our fears, but also how narratives are recycled in culture. Curator: Precisely, the work's power resides in that symbolic encoding. Editor: The stark formalism certainly strengthens its message. Curator: I concur. Editor: An artwork I'll be pondering for a while.