-Le Rire- magazine 24 - 1906

Curator: Right now we are looking at the magazine cover of *Le Rire*, dated March 24, 1906, which is held at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. It’s a lithograph in the Art Nouveau style. What do you see here, Editor? Editor: Well, immediately, there's this wonderfully scandalous energy about it, right? The colors are delicate—lots of pastel pinks and yellows—but the subject matter… it's a boudoir scene gone topsy-turvy. There's a woman peering under the bed, ostensibly surprised by the man hiding there. A classic farce, visually speaking. Curator: Exactly! And the lithographic process, allows for the relatively mass production of these images which enabled its accessibility in broader society. It served a specific social function, circulating satirical views and, of course, reflecting the societal fascinations with gender and class dynamics. Editor: Right, because you can almost smell the ink, can’t you? I mean, you can almost hear the rustling of the pages as someone bought this on the street corner. Think of the context—Paris, early 20th century—such a breeding ground for pushing boundaries and the avant-garde. Curator: I'm drawn to the textual elements incorporated directly into the artwork. Look at the title, "Le Rire," which means "The Laugh." The dialogue scrawled across the bottom adds another layer, hinting at societal games and expectations. Also, this form democratized artistic expression as illustration was embraced by more accessible media, moving artwork from traditional displays in formal galleries into newspapers. Editor: And let's be honest, the composition is great. Your eye is pulled down and then immediately up and back in the composition and finally… oh, that coy smirk lurking in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity. Curator: It prompts us to think critically about artistic consumption and artistic creation, as the accessibility provided by lithography created art that could be consumed broadly rather than kept at the pedestal, and the democratization created further forms of media. Editor: True. It's amazing how much story and suggestion can be packed into a single image, isn’t it? Almost dreamlike and humorous, leaving more unsaid than stated explicitly. Curator: Indeed, leaving a little space to ponder about these images today! Editor: Makes you appreciate how a good drawing, rendered through the correct medium, really does stand the test of time!