Kalenderblad juli met flamingo's 1916

This is a calendar sheet for July, designed by Theo van Hoytema, most likely made using lithography. This color printing technique allows for precise registration of different colors, seen here in the combination of green, pink, and black. The calendar doesn’t use traditional artistic materials, but rather those tied to the world of commercial printing. The flamingos are drawn with bold outlines and flat color planes, which is a simplification from observation of nature, and is suited to mechanical reproduction. The artist has clearly taken great care in the compositions, with groupings of flamingos above and below a grid containing the days of the month. Each image has been carefully considered for its effect. Seen in this context, it suggests an attentiveness to industrial modes of production, rather than a purely handcrafted aesthetic. The calendar form also implies the modern organization of time, intrinsic to an industrializing society. So, while on its surface this seems like a decorative image, it is intrinsically tied to the social realities of labor, politics, and consumption.