Kalender Mouton & Co. 1899 1899

Curator: Stepping closer, one immediately notices the intricate detailing – quite evocative. Is this piece designed to evoke nostalgia? Editor: This is the "Kalender Mouton & Co. 1899" by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet, currently residing here at the Rijksmuseum. Created in 1899 using watercolor, print, and other graphic arts, it is very representative of Art Nouveau sensibilities. Curator: It’s beautiful, there's no denying that. It also feels deeply tied to a specific time and place; there is no escaping the echoes of turn-of-the-century anxieties and aspirations. The decorative framing, the repetition of vines—it feels very symbolic, ritualistic even, and indicative of cycles, rebirth. The palette is muted, the patterns ordered; it speaks of control over the natural world in a rapidly changing society. Editor: Indeed. The symbol-laden Art Nouveau was very aware of themes. Note the strategic use of grapevines, leaves, and perhaps the rising sun: they echo motifs linked to prosperity, fertility, and, importantly for this particular firm, I think, pleasure. Curator: "Mouton & Co."—are they vintners then? What's interesting is how these recurring vegetal symbols mask social changes of the time. The late 19th century was a turbulent period, deeply fractured along class lines—yet these idealized, Arcadian symbols are meant to represent something altogether different. Editor: Exactly! So while this piece seems merely decorative, it acts almost like a manifesto or an invocation. Curator: And consider the role this calendar was meant to play in a home. This calendar marked not just the passage of time, but also the owner’s ambitions. Editor: Precisely! When you hang a calendar on a wall, what else are you hanging, right? Aspirational, that's the key word to take away today! Curator: A window into aspirations cloaked in ornament – it offers us far more than just pretty visual designs.