calendar 1902

This is Théophile Alexandre Steinlen’s calendar, made in 1902, a whimsical sketch of a girl with cats all around. Look at the tender, almost tentative marks that make up the girl's figure, a network of light strokes and soft colours that give the work a feeling of gentle animation. The texture is smooth, almost like pastel, blending into soft focus. It’s as if Steinlen is trying to capture a fleeting moment, a memory of childhood reverie. Notice how he’s rendered the dress, a pale coral with hints of orange, which gives a hazy, dreamlike quality to the image. There’s a cat, almost like an inky shadow, looking up at the girl. Steinlen seems part of a conversation that continues to today, from Manet to Vuillard, a conversation about domesticity and the quiet drama of everyday life. Steinlen's calendar isn't just a marker of time; it’s an invitation to pause and reflect on the beauty of the mundane, where meaning isn't fixed but found in the flux of perception.