Fashionable "Turn-Outs" in Central Park 1869

Curator: This delightful print by Thomas B. Worth, made around 1869, is entitled "Fashionable 'Turn-Outs' in Central Park." Editor: Oh, the energy! It's just teeming with upper-class leisure and the almost frenetic activity of… horses. The composition is wonderful, a spiraling collection of carriages. You can practically smell the leather and feel the jostle. Curator: Indeed. Worth captures a slice of life within the newly established Central Park, meant as a democratic space, yet largely defined by class and social spectacle. Consider the materiality, a printed image that’s broadly reproducible. How does that sit against its seemingly exclusive subject matter? Editor: Precisely! The means of production, easily disseminated prints, belies the elitist world depicted. The polished wheels, the horseflesh – these are markers of wealth on parade. Note the contrast with, say, lithographs depicting laborers; same technique, vastly different social functions. What kind of labor goes into crafting the clothes and accessories, too? It all matters. Curator: And the ‘Turn-Outs’ themselves—the equipage, horses, livery—were judged according to strict social codes. A faulty turn-out could mean social embarrassment and demotion of status. This wasn't just a Sunday ride; it was performance. Look at the clothing; a costume meant to telegraph wealth. Editor: Costume is right! Look closely; all that fabric, the top hats. So many manufactured goods coming together in one fleeting, material display. The environmental costs alone! You could analyze an entire industrial revolution from these details, like a fossil preserved in amber. Curator: We're seeing class mobility made manifest, or perhaps fantasized, through display and material possessions. Parks are such potent spaces for these societal negotiations and public performances. What an incisive social commentary conveyed with this artist’s choices in plein air drawing and printmaking. Editor: I think the combination of artistic production and this public display create something worth unpacking. The speed, wealth and class differences are so apparent as we study these people and this art, it's like it hasn't changed.