Rocca de Secca 1858

Editor: This is "Rocca de Secca," painted by Albert Bierstadt in 1858, using oil paints. The vista is lovely, with the mountain in the distance. The scene feels quite composed and even idyllic, but what is happening with this scene and these people? Curator: Given its context, let's think about Bierstadt's labour here, reproducing this Italian landscape. How does the physical application of oil paint create or reinforce certain ideologies about nature, about labour? Does the picturesque quality conceal any harsher realities of this society's means of production? Think of what's depicted: workers, animals burdened with weight. How are these figures painted? What’s emphasized and what’s overlooked in this image and others made by him and the Hudson River School? Editor: I see what you mean! So it’s not just a pretty landscape, it's about the lives of the people there and the kind of work they must do in this landscape? And how Bierstadt uses the paint and other art making materials to give a biased, more romantic perspective? Curator: Exactly! Think about how readily available and cheap these colours might or might not have been for people in Rocca de Secca compared to someone of Bierstadt's background? His materials are inseparable from the economic realities of both the artist and the subject he chooses to paint. Editor: I had never thought about paint itself having a kind of social meaning. Thanks! Curator: Don't we all! Thinking of this through the materials used opens up so many doors for a critical understanding of its broader social contexts.