Cedars, Bellport, Long Island 1880

Curator: It reminds me of a scientific illustration, so precise, yet somehow ethereal. Editor: And almost stark, wouldn't you say? An exercise in observation rendered economically with simple lines of ink, there's something refreshing about that, considering the fussiness often found at the Met. Curator: That impression contrasts intriguingly with what Andrew Fisher Bunner set out to do. Completed circa 1880, "Cedars, Bellport, Long Island" seeks to immortalize in ink an encounter between artist and nature, between the local cedar and the tools the artist had to hand. Editor: I think I appreciate that encounter through its physical traces— the paper he chose, its likely coarse texture, holding and bleeding the ink just so, creating this delicate weave that both describes the leaves but also makes this tree’s mass somehow less…solid? Curator: This specific weaving certainly evokes a sense of nature's patterns. Cedar trees, you see, are associated with resilience and longevity; they symbolize strength, even immortality. One cannot miss that spiritual undertone amidst the stark presentation. Editor: Hmm, yes I suppose the fact he labored outside, plein-air as the Met has it categorized here, using humble materials to produce such density, and a believable realism despite the spartan economy of it, that adds to it all. We could almost feel like we’re seeing not just any tree but THE tree in his eyes. Curator: Indeed, there's an intriguing timelessness, I think, in this visual translation, a feeling he sought the true, everlasting form through such direct connection. The trees possess the marks of persistence, both organic and cultural. Editor: Thinking of persistent marks, it makes me appreciate, or be more curious anyway, of Bunner's artistic labor. There's something grounding about realizing art boils down to the physical act of applying medium to support, of shaping and making meaning. That’s perhaps the art’s most resonant symbol to me. Curator: I hadn't considered that angle, that is enlightening! For me, it reveals our perennial striving to connect to our world. Editor: A good connection through this piece, as it has certainly broadened my perspective.