Worcester evening gazette. Easter souvenir. 1896

Editor: This is "Worcester Evening Gazette. Easter Souvenir" designed by Louis Rhead in 1896. It’s a print, looks like a poster, and what really catches my eye is how dreamlike it feels. It makes me think about art nouveau and symbolism and portraits. I wonder: what do you see when you look at it? Curator: Ah, this cover whispers secrets of a bygone era. The melancholy angel, framed by those jaunty daffodils – a potent cocktail of the ethereal and the earthy! You picked up on the Art Nouveau influences, good eye. The artist has really got in with those floral designs and that elegant, stylized figure. Editor: It’s interesting to think about the contrast between the angelic figure and then daffodils. The daffodils being earthly really made it interesting for me! Why those specific symbols together though? Curator: Exactly! I like to think the daffodils hint at the earthbound – the promise of spring, the very pulse of life renewing after winter. But against a starlit sky, mind you, with this red-haired figure clasping Easter lilies – purity, resurrection – that the artist seems to be playing with themes of earthly rebirth. Don't you think so? Editor: That does bring it all together, this tension between the earth and the stars. Now I see the daffodils as more than just decoration and just how carefully selected each element is. I hadn't even noticed how she seemed to connect the flowers. It's got me looking at art nouveau very differently. Curator: That's the joy of peeling back the layers! This isn’t just about aesthetic pleasantries; it’s a rumination on renewal, wrapped up in a newspaper cover.