La Lettre 1912

Editor: This is "La Lettre," from 1912, by Théophile Alexandre Steinlen. It looks like it's an etching in ink. I'm really struck by how the artist chose such a gritty medium to depict what seems like a very intimate moment of sharing a letter. What do you see in this print? Curator: Well, immediately my eyes go to the physical act of production. Think about the acid, the metal plate, the labor involved in creating this image, versus the subject. A "letter" implies communication, social connection. Here, Steinlen juxtaposes the delicate, potentially elite, exchange of information with the industrialized, almost brutal, process of printmaking. Editor: Brutal? I wouldn't have used that word. Curator: Consider how the aquatint process etches away at the metal, and the physical effort in applying the ink, wiping the plate, pressing the paper. All to render these finely dressed figures. It draws attention to the consumption of art versus its production. Was this print made for the masses, or for a wealthy patron? What do you think the distribution looked like? Editor: That's fascinating, I hadn't considered the act of physically creating it. So you're saying that Steinlen’s choice of printmaking actually comments on the class differences present in the image itself? The fancy clothes against the means of producing the artwork? Curator: Exactly. And also highlights the democratization of art enabled by printmaking. These images become more accessible, circulating potentially subversive ideas. Was Steinlen making a statement about art consumption during his time? Or commenting on the social implications of exchanging letters, period? Editor: I never would have thought about that with just a first look. Thanks to that Materialist lens, now I am curious about the artist's studio, and how this specific print circulated in early 20th-century society!