Autumn Birches, Central Park 1909

Curator: "Autumn Birches, Central Park" painted in 1909 by Robert Julian Onderdonk, uses oil paints to capture the natural landscape. The location seems pertinent when analyzing Onderdonk's broader relationship with nature in his artistic career. Editor: It’s an explosion of ochre and amber! Look at those dense, hurried brushstrokes. The overall effect is this shimmering, almost overwhelming, sensory experience. Curator: Indeed, and consider the period. Early 20th century American art saw a growing fascination with representing urban spaces, Central Park being a deliberate intersection of nature and the metropolis, an especially important and curated landmark for social mingling and access. Editor: Yes, but see how the light almost dissolves form, how the eye struggles to find a definite edge, line or boundary... almost a painterly interpretation of reality as fleeting and ephemeral! It resonates with Symbolist notions on sensory art and abstract thought through emotional cues, a retreat into self. Curator: And to think about that retreat into self at a time where there were increased waves of immigration in New York. To turn towards painting pretty scenes of light through leaves suggests the socioeconomic stratification shaping the experience and availability of the urban oasis that is Central Park. Editor: True. But doesn't the visible brushwork underscore a directness of the artist's touch? It doesn't hide the "hand" as classical conventions preferred. And it certainly draws our attention to surface, texture and pure opticality. Curator: By focusing only on form and perception, however, we risk missing how even these landscapes reinforced existing societal hierarchies and power structures during the rise of cities and the creation of a shared “American” culture. Editor: Maybe. I still feel the composition pushes me to prioritize subjective vision. Curator: And perhaps that's precisely the point, its complicated place in American visual rhetoric. Editor: Well, either way, I have a newfound appreciation for seeing through trees.