Calendar for 1903 1902

Curator: This is Alexandre Lunois’ “Calendar for 1903,” a lithograph printed on paper created in 1902, held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Editor: My initial sense is a dreamscape—figures emerging from a muted haze. They’re dancers, aren’t they? There's something about the lithographic grain that evokes a fleeting memory, like a half-remembered tune. Curator: Absolutely, dancers, capturing that Impressionistic pursuit of fleeting moments! Note the positioning. Each gesture and posture speaks volumes. What about the numbers pinned to some of their costumes? Do they strike you as particularly important? Editor: The numbers give it a peculiar edge, transforming the grace of ballet into a codified spectacle. It’s like we’re peeking into a rehearsal—or perhaps an audition? Numbers worn as a symbol could point to feelings about value, assessment. Curator: The artist subtly pulls us into that backstage vulnerability, that relentless pursuit of perfection. You almost feel complicit in observing them, no? Editor: Precisely! And notice how Lunois uses a restricted palette, mostly grays and creams. In terms of symbolic expression, I consider this a kind of self-imposed constraint which heightens our focus, making the dancers almost ghostly, yet strangely intimate. The dark tones feel more introspective rather than morose. Curator: Perhaps that is a key that Lunois is giving us. It also evokes a past era, or at least my mind wanders there. As a calendar illustration, do you find something melancholic at facing a new year? Editor: A fresh year fraught with uncertainty is symbolized by the ambiguity surrounding their figures, that haziness you pointed to, that can certainly spark anxieties. New beginnings have their shadows! Curator: So well put. These girls also invite a tender regard, which complicates the numbers which serve only to highlight one of their values. Well, it has been such a joy looking together, finding some delicate observations for ourselves! Editor: A fitting sentiment for an artwork meant to frame the passage of time—I am now compelled to contemplate all that passes within those days and years, too. Thank you!