View from Lyshornet 1836

Editor: Johan Christian Dahl’s "View from Lyshornet," created in 1836, is quite captivating. It's an oil painting that, despite the landscape, feels heavy. I wonder what secrets it holds. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Beyond the surface representation of mountains, consider Dahl's process. As a materialist, I examine how the plein-air technique impacts the work's authenticity and value. This was painted on site, giving access to something lost with the traditional studio setting. It embodies a more “truthful” version of the Norwegian landscape at a moment where Norway as a nation was undergoing dramatic transformation and industrialization. Editor: So, by painting it outdoors, he’s also showing a relationship to labour. It took work to bring these materials out there and the labour became integral to the piece? Curator: Exactly! The physicality of lugging the materials to Lyshornet and the immediate exposure to the landscape’s conditions shapes the very act of production. Consider also how pigments were sourced and ground. What social narratives are embedded in those processes? How does mass manufacture affect Dahl's artisanal, individualized method? Editor: It never occurred to me how materials dictated value or truth... That even raw materials held inherent meaning depending on how, where, and when they were obtained and processed. Curator: Furthermore, the accessibility of Dahl's work contrasts with the limited resources and manual labor inherent to its creation. He would spend days perfecting small details but this was made in-situ which contrasts greatly. Considering consumption in the contemporary market: are Dahl’s artworks perceived differently because the means to paint landscapes have become so readily available? Editor: So it moves away from just seeing it as a pretty picture... Now it really emphasizes his intentionality in using painting as both labor and a social document! Thanks for your help. Curator: My pleasure. Keep questioning the relationship between art, labor, and consumption.