Spring Blossoms 1870

Curator: This is an image entitled "Spring Blossoms," an anonymous work showcased here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It feels wistful, almost melancholic despite the title. The light is so dappled and the figures so still. Curator: Indeed, there's a stillness captured here. Looking closely, you’ll see the composition leads your eye gently around the group of figures. What do you make of them? Editor: The figures seem self-absorbed, disconnected, almost like separate studies brought together. Yet there is a unity in the monochrome palette. Curator: It’s curious that an artist would choose such muted tones for spring, don't you think? Editor: Perhaps it speaks to the ephemeral nature of spring, the way beauty and potential can be so fleeting. It leaves me contemplating the transience of moments.