Het feest bij de hagedis 1876 - 1890

Curator: Gaston Gélibert’s whimsical piece, “The Lizard’s Party,” likely created between 1876 and 1890, presents a miniature world teeming with life. Crafted with watercolor, it almost feels like a page torn from a forgotten fairytale book. What springs to your mind upon seeing it? Editor: It’s delightful! Like peering into a secret garden where bugs and lizards are having their own miniature dramas. The color palette, mostly pastel hues, lends it a nostalgic, almost dreamlike quality. I feel transported back to my childhood when all that I wanted was a little magic. Curator: I notice how Gélibert utilizes the twelve panels, not merely as separate scenes, but also creating a cyclical, repetitive reading experience. The motifs, like the butterfly or the lizard, appear in multiple squares suggesting the broader symbolic context. In fairytales, small creatures have large symbolism and the butterfly often symbolizes a metamorphosis and beauty. Editor: That cyclical nature you point out gives it a strange kind of peace too; there’s something so charming about these creatures repeating small, beautiful behaviors as the seasons turn. Is that sense of repetitive symbolism reinforced anywhere else in this panel? Curator: One could argue that snails, for example, with their shells which have become, throughout art history, to signal shelter and transformation, continue that trend here, adding depth. Given that this piece might easily be classified as narrative art, this gives us a clue as to how time moves throughout it, I believe. What did it mean for Gélibert? It opens new questions! Editor: It almost transforms from art object to a meditative tool! Looking closely, I find this odd feeling, part innocent wonder, part melancholy, like glimpsing a memory fading away. Perhaps, it captures that fragile moment before reality sets in when nature is a party every single day! Curator: Yes! Memory itself, cultural or personal, is indeed like an artifact we keep returning to for deeper insight. This lovely fairy-painting, even with its simplicity, reminds us to remain receptive to wonder and mystery within the everyday. Editor: Right! And sometimes a good party needs a tiny, strange lizard to truly lift it!