Zachtheid is beter dan geweld c. 1902

Editor: This is "Zachtheid is beter dan geweld," which I believe translates to "Gentleness is Better Than Violence." It's from around 1902, credited to Pellerin & Cie, and it seems to be a print, possibly a drawing transferred to print form? It almost resembles a comic strip with these different vignettes, and I'm immediately drawn to the repeating color palette, with a strong focus on reds, yellows and blues, within each little scene. What stylistic choices do you see? Curator: Indeed. Considering its form, observe how the sequential panels encourage a reading not as individual artworks, but as segments contributing to a cohesive visual narrative. Each scene contains similar hues. This structured repetition is key to understanding the artist’s compositional strategy, and consider also how these choices effect the emotional and dramatic arc? Does the linearity give it the structural equivalent of cause and effect? Editor: It’s interesting how you point out the sequence creating that cause and effect. I hadn't quite thought of it like that! The limited color palette, almost like a flattened-out tapestry. The shapes feel contained, but they make sense to our eye; the limited colors give an odd harmony despite it not resembling how reality looks. So how would you interpret this specific formal treatment? Curator: Look at the way the limited use of shading flattens the forms, emphasizing their shapes. Then compare this to the narrative implied in each individual box. The simplicity of line and color focuses the eye on gesture and pose; the key signifiers that tell each mini story. Then there’s that repeating palette giving everything in the work harmony, like recurring motifs. Each formal choice helps us isolate its essential moral. Editor: I hadn't considered how the simplification amplified the narrative, focusing on figures and their actions so clearly. Thank you! Curator: A rewarding endeavor, certainly, examining how narrative is encoded into the work’s form and its visual choices.