Madrigal D'Avril 

Curator: Here we have "Madrigal D'Avril", a striking lithograph created by Thèophile Alexandre Steinlen. What's your first impression? Editor: Erotic, definitely. With a splash of Belle Époque wistfulness. There's such immediacy to this image; a whispered confidence shared between two figures, all captured in those lovely rust-colored lines. It looks like an old poster that’s been faded by time, but only became better with it, like some wine, aged. Curator: Indeed, this piece functions as a poster, specifically a song sheet cover. Note the inclusion of typography to convey song’s name and related credits. This aligns perfectly with Steinlen's extensive involvement in advertising and magazine illustration. In looking at the cultural memory, it makes sense that many fin-de-siècle graphic artists created sheet music. It provided popular visual representations of musical romanticism. Editor: Exactly, there’s an undeniable romantic spirit. And this composition: the tilted heads, the suggestion of embrace, the female gaze that looks right past us. Curator: This gaze represents not only the spirit of romanticism in that time, but it embodies a broader narrative of yearning and delicate melancholia that had permeated cultural and artistic expression for years. Editor: Makes me wonder what Mademoiselle imagined after she cast that gaze, and what kind of mad love-and-art world did Steinlen want us to fantasize about back then. Curator: Food for thought! This drawing offers an alluring lens through which to appreciate the multilayered dimensions of romance and art's cultural value. Editor: Definitely. A peek into the passions and musings of another era.