Kalenderblad november met drie pinguïns 1905

Curator: Let's take a look at Theo van Hoytema's "Kalenderblad november met drie pinguïns," created in 1905. This captivating print is currently housed at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: My first thought is how surprisingly graphic it is. The penguins emerging from this deep black background are somehow comical and melancholic all at once. Curator: Absolutely. It’s a woodcut, a medium that inherently lends itself to bold lines and stark contrasts. It appears the artist manipulated the material quite masterfully to create subtle shading. Editor: For me, those penguins evoke a sense of wonder and displacement. They stand as symbols of the exotic and perhaps even represent the alienation one might feel during the increasingly shorter days of November. Curator: I agree about the seasonal tie-in. I’m interested in how printmaking was a very democratic medium at the time, making art accessible for a broader audience. Calendars especially blurred the line between art and utility. Did these practical objects elevate the domestic space? Editor: The Art Nouveau details framing the top and bottom and running up the side, like decorative ice floes with human figures—suggests a world on the brink, as this artistic style symbolized the fin de siècle anxieties. Curator: That’s fascinating, looking at the artwork as representative of anxieties during a cultural shift. Van Hoytema’s labor, then, wasn’t just in carving the block but in reflecting on these societal shifts. These images of the natural world offered an alternative way of imagining life in rapidly changing times. Editor: Yes, and through the symbolic language of animals and natural forms, he seems to offer some kind of key to understanding that change, hinting at survival amidst the metaphorical freeze. Curator: The image speaks volumes when one appreciates both the material choices and symbolic depth. Editor: It certainly gives one much to contemplate beyond just marking the days on a calendar.