Curatorial Narrative In 1919, Eli Lilly & Company’s “Lilly Empty Capsules” occupies a singular position within the visual lexicon of its era. As an exemplar of early 20th-century illustrative art, it demonstrates a deliberate adherence to linear brushwork and a palette that privileges subtle gradations of gray, white, and yellow. The subject matter, too, is tellingly modern: an architectural rendering of a pharmaceutical factory’s interior, stripped bare of ornamentation and human presence. This austere environment is imbued with a sense of atmospheric weight, as if the very space itself has been drained of vitality.When enlarged to 44×63 inches, “Lilly Empty Capsules” reveals itself to be a masterclass in spatial rhythm and chromatic structure. The grid-like layout of empty capsules seems to reverberate across the canvas, generating a sense of tension that is simultaneously relieved by the judicious placement of yellow highlights.