The Year's at the Spring 1920

Editor: So, here we have Harry Clarke’s watercolor illustration, "The Year's at the Spring," created in 1920. There's an ethereal feeling to it; almost otherworldly. What do you see in this piece, particularly given the time it was made? Curator: This illustration provides a compelling window into the social anxieties and desires of the post-World War I era. The delicate watercolor, the presence of what appears to be fairies in a whimsical setting. . . these weren't merely escapist fantasies. Clarke uses symbolism rooted in cultural understanding. Editor: How so? Curator: Well, consider the figures. Are they purely decorative, or do they embody anxieties about gender and power dynamics that were rapidly shifting? The imagery of idealized womanhood alongside the male form could reflect contemporary debates around femininity. Is Clarke endorsing or critiquing these constructs through their rendering? And, the delicate quality of the illustration is so evocative of the fragility that the world was experiencing at the time. Do you think there’s a potential relationship between art and trauma here? Editor: I never considered that before, but it does make you wonder. Perhaps it is more than just fantasy and speaks to what they felt and experienced, the artist pushing against or re-creating expectations through art. Curator: Exactly. Clarke gives a voice to the complex psychological and social landscapes of his time through subtle aesthetic choices. We begin to understand this fantastical rendering within its specific historical moment and not merely a “pretty picture." Editor: That’s really fascinating! Thank you for broadening my view. Now I feel like I see so much more than the beauty of it, but how the artist used beauty to comment on and question societal ideals and turmoil.