Spezialausst. Vornehmer Beleuchtungskörper. Hohenzollernhaus, Dortmund, H. Limke c. 1910 - 1915

This advertisement, made by Carl Kunze, I'm guessing was printed, maybe a lithograph, to entice people to go to a lighting store. The palette is wonderfully constrained, all these dusty, muted greens, blues and browns, which must have felt super modern at the time. The whole image is rendered in flat planes of color, as if you're building an image from cut out shapes. Look at the stripes on the table behind the statue, they are just laid next to each other, without any sense of tonal depth or modelling. The lightbulb is a marvel, radiating rays, but still flat. All the surfaces are so smooth, you can't see the hand of the artist here. The thing that really hooks me is the combination of the classical statue and wreath, with the super modern lamp and clock. It's a strange mix, but somehow it works. I'm reminded of Fernand Léger and his tubular figures posed next to everyday objects. The past, the present, the future. Art is always a conversation.