Story Le Rubis Du Grand-lama 

Curator: This pen and pencil sketch, attributed to Edouard Riou and known as "Story Le Rubis Du Grand-lama," plunges us into a Victorian-era drama, wouldn't you say? Editor: Yes, instantly. The light and shadow give it a somewhat menacing feel, like a crucial scene in a drawing-room mystery novel. Notice the contrasting postures of the men – one alert and forward, the other deeply relaxed. Curator: Absolutely! Riou's sketchy lines and reliance on light and shadow does lend an immediate feeling of intense drama to a quite ordinary, domestic, moment. There is a newspaper there, the ‘Morning Post’, which would have placed this within a particular milieu in time. Editor: And a clear signal of power, of social stratification. One man stands, leans forward, possibly beseeching, while the other is seated, seemingly unfazed, reading his paper, with legs crossed and an air of insouciance, clearly in a more socially dominant position. I see that relationship played out in their clothes too, both elegant three-piece suits. Curator: Precisely. The body language is everything, isn’t it? Riou skillfully directs our gaze, creating a push and pull, an air of anticipation of some undisclosed and urgent happening. Editor: But it’s so much more than simple illustrative storytelling, though that's an easy assumption. Think about what it means to perform power. Look how even the chair, which seems ordinary at first, is intricately wrought and designed to be looked at. This artwork highlights the visual cues that are essential to maintaining unequal structures in society. The details of dress, posture and possessions serve as reminders of a particular status. Curator: And in the detail there is everything. Each scratch of Riou's pen adds to this overall reading, an emotional weight which I felt so instantly as you mention. From throwaway illustration, or genre-painting to considered social comment: not bad. Editor: Indeed. So, we go in expecting a simple sketch for a story and emerge with so many other questions that invite a richer reading. Power is, after all, performative and negotiated.