Davis Oak, Mystic, Rhode Island 1911

Curator: Here we have Charles William Hudson's "Davis Oak, Mystic, Rhode Island" a striking graphite drawing. Editor: It's a gnarly thing, isn't it? The way the branches reach—it feels imposing, almost haunted. Curator: It's tempting to read it as a symbol of resilience but the story of the Davis family who owned the land is deeply intertwined with colonial history and displacement. Editor: The sheer volume of marks to create texture...I wonder what kind of graphite Hudson used, and how much time he spent layering those strokes. Curator: Absolutely, and thinking about who had access to art materials at that time, it’s not just about the tree, but about histories of land ownership. Editor: It makes you consider the labor that went into capturing this tree, and the social structure that allowed it to be represented in art. Curator: Precisely, the drawing invites us to consider art-making itself as a process deeply embedded in power relations. Editor: It definitely reframes how I see landscape art. Curator: It's a potent reminder that art is never separate from its social and historical underpinnings.