The Madhouse c. 19th century

Editor: This is Wilhelm von Kaulbach’s drawing, The Madhouse. It’s undated, but resides in the Harvard Art Museums. Looking at the figures, their clothes, the way they're rendered, I'm struck by the artist's attempt to portray madness. What can you tell me about this piece? Curator: Let's consider the paper itself. Its very production— the felling of trees, the pulping, the labor—speaks to a system of value. Kaulbach then applies graphite, a material extracted and processed, to depict a social reality. How does the *means* of representing madness influence our understanding of it? Editor: That’s interesting. So the materials used to create the art are just as important as the image itself? Curator: Precisely. The drawing becomes a commodity, an object of consumption, reflecting the artist's labor and the market's demand for such representations. It makes you wonder about our own consumption of images and the societal conditions that allow for these types of representations. Editor: That really shifts my perspective, considering the drawing as part of a broader system of production and consumption. Thanks!