Horses in a Rainstorm 

Editor: This is “Horses in a Rainstorm” by Károly Lotz, and the medium looks like possibly oil on canvas. There is something heavy about the atmosphere, like the air itself is weighted down by the storm. What are your first thoughts on this artwork? Curator: Immediately, I’m struck by the means of production evident in this scene. The painting shows us not just horses, but the infrastructure that supports their existence: the well providing water, the open land offering grazing. It raises questions about labor and resource management in a rural economy. How reliant are these horses to humans, based on the materials presented here? Editor: I see what you mean! The well and the herder really drive home the dependency of both humans and animals on each other, as well as natural resources. Curator: Exactly. And what about the paint itself? The way Lotz layers the pigment, especially in the sky, shows an interesting tension. We have areas of great depth and blending but the way he captures those cumulous clouds must require massive labor, or did he develop specific faster process to produce a seemingly detailed scene? Editor: That's an interesting point. Now that I look closer, the application of the paint is less about perfect realism and more about capturing a sense of immediacy and perhaps raw labor that would be needed to produce the materials necessary for this setting, almost an “in-the-moment” feeling that also comes with a downpour. Curator: Indeed. And in his choice of this rural scene rather than, say, a portrait of nobility, does Lotz comment on the relative value of different types of labor? The social context really informs how we value art like this today. What do you make of it now? Editor: I did not quite catch the value in production. I learned a lot about social context. Thanks! Curator: Me too, every time!