Kalenderblad november met twee valken 1901

Editor: So, this is "Kalenderblad november met twee valken," or November Calendar Page with Two Falcons, by Theo van Hoytema, from 1901. It's a mixed media piece – drawing, tempera, collage, fresco, even print – on paper, and it's currently housed in the Rijksmuseum. I'm really drawn to the stylized rendering; there's a symbolic intensity, despite it being a simple calendar page. How do you interpret this work? Curator: What strikes me immediately are the falcons themselves, regal and almost anthropomorphic. Falcons have long symbolized nobility, control, and keen vision. Even now, their image carries that weight in the collective consciousness. Given that this is a calendar page, do you think the artist is imbuing the month of November with similar attributes, perhaps a time for foresight and strategic action as winter approaches? Editor: That’s interesting, I hadn’t thought of November itself taking on that symbolism! I was focused on the slightly unsettling addition of what look like elaborate head coverings. It makes me think of hunting and status. Curator: Precisely. The headdresses transform the falcons, perhaps indicating not just nobility, but power meticulously constructed and maintained. Hunting was often a symbolic language of social stratification, so adding elements associated with social conventions adds meaning. And did you notice the skeletal remains decorating the bottom frame of the calendar grid, a subtle inclusion alluding to death? Is this van Hoytema reminding us of mortality, even as we track the days? Editor: Yes! I saw them, and that reading definitely casts the whole image in a different light – November, falcons, and reminders of mortality... quite a combination. Curator: Ultimately, art helps us to engage more deeply with our world by engaging these shared symbolic frameworks to see them refreshed with novelty. Editor: That makes me look at calendar art, and Art Nouveau more closely. Thanks!