Lake Mooselucmaguntic, Maine 1878

Curator: This is Benjamin Champney's "Lake Mooselucmaguntic, Maine," housed right here at the Harvard Art Museums, a fleeting graphite sketch of Maine's wilderness. Editor: It’s like a whisper of a memory. So understated, almost ghostly. Makes you wonder what Champney was thinking, or seeing, at that exact moment. Curator: He belonged to the White Mountain School, idealizing nature as a divine manifestation. Water, here, frequently mirrors the heavens, a pathway to spiritual insight. Editor: I can see that. It's all about reflection, not just in the water, but inward, isn't it? A very quiet kind of grandeur. Curator: Indeed. These landscapes spoke to ideas of national identity, reflecting the American experience of discovering new frontiers. Editor: There's a humble beauty in the bareness. It invites you to fill in the details yourself, to feel the silence and vastness. Curator: And through that, we participate in the cultural memory of the American landscape, a legacy Champney so delicately captured. Editor: It's more than just a landscape, it's a mood. I feel a little calmer just looking at it. A small treasure.