Journal des Demoiselles, 15 Avril 1898, No. 5166 : Chapeaux de Melle Helen (...) 1898

Curator: Well, these hats are something else, aren’t they? The drawing titled "Journal des Demoiselles, 15 Avril 1898, No. 5166 : Chapeaux de Melle Helen (...)," by Esnault, seems so light and ephemeral. Like capturing a fleeting moment of fashion. It’s a lithograph, ink and watercolour on paper, I believe. Editor: Yes, that airy quality strikes me too. It feels almost weightless, yet each hat has such elaborate detail. There is also a feeling of cool detachment evoked by these perfect faces and stylish arrangements. It's like stepping into a garden on a spring morning... but also like a slightly cool, stylized daydream. Curator: Exactly! I'm drawn to how each hat reflects a different facet of femininity, you know? Some are adorned with bursting florals, others with dramatic feathers… they tell a story of a society that placed immense importance on outward appearance. Each hat design looks incredibly innovative given the year this drawing was done. The artist uses delicate strokes of watercolour in the background around the head that complements each headdress, without ever stealing its thunder! Editor: You can certainly decode a world of social conventions from this. And technically, the work is interesting as well: note the controlled hatching and cross-hatching to render volume, but then there’s a total flattening in areas. I see in its visual language, that constant play between two and three dimensions typical of art nouveau. How do you interpret Esnault’s limited use of colors for each sketch? Curator: For me, those limited tones only amplify the details, making the designs themselves pop out, almost leaping off the paper at the viewer! Imagine flipping through the pages of that journal in 1898, each hat a tantalizing glimpse into Parisian fashion. And those floral explosions...it must have been a fragrant era! Editor: A little too fragrant for my liking! Yet it’s precisely in this tension—between refined craftsmanship and manufactured allure—that the artwork gains a unique aesthetic charge, an echo of its time. It captures the stylish facade so essential to women in those days. Curator: Absolutely, an alluring paradox caught on paper forever... and just so stunning to consider even today! Editor: Precisely. A frozen, floral moment for us to gaze into forever.