Walking cat 

Curator: Ah, here's something charming. This is "Walking Cat" by Théophile Alexandre Steinlen. Isn't it whimsical? Editor: It certainly strikes a chord, though there's a muted tension in it. The way the watercolors bleed out the forms against that solid, flat plane is unsettling, somehow both grounded and uncontained at once. What's it made of, watercolor, right? Curator: Appears so, a delicate watercolour, indeed. There's such gentle observation, don't you think? Cats held such a deep fascination for Steinlen—he understood their character. His domestic scenes, of course, speak of Parisian life. And for me this cat evokes freedom and mystery. Editor: Freedom? Interesting, because I see labor hidden within the leisure, too. Watercolor's so linked to hobbyists, Sunday painters. This feels like he's pushing back at these perceptions of who gets to be an artist—making art from domestic comfort, sure, but wrestling something significant out of a readily available craft supply like watercolour paint, from a seemingly 'unserious' subject. Curator: A wrestle? Well, I believe Steinlen sought simplicity rather than a battle. Maybe the very essence of capturing that feline independence. Though this feline looks perhaps, a little lost in thought... where might it be going? The fluidity almost captures a thought more than movement. Editor: Maybe it is a search! The medium itself contributes to this impression. How can he claim to 'own' that free bleed of color? It mimics how, if we think of labor terms, all artists depend on some shared availability of resources. Even a cat strolling needs someone else's discarded something to stroll along. So, ownership of any thing becomes dubious… a mystery in itself, don't you think? Curator: (chuckles) It could all simply be a nice drawing of a cat, and we're burdening it with these ponderings! Maybe that’s a lesson, actually... Art's meaning truly evolves with each fresh gaze. What remains most astonishing is its very essence... something magical is at work there, right? Editor: Oh absolutely, there is undeniable magic – it's in this exchange that it happens. Where a material observation gives rise to pure imaginative response! And both are so human.