Landscape Number 19 c. 19th century

Curator: Ah, Alexandre Calame's "Landscape Number 19"! Doesn't it just whisper tales of rustic simplicity and perhaps a touch of melancholy? Editor: It certainly whispers something. To me, it's the story of materials: stone, roughly hewn wood, the labor needed to build even this humble dwelling. Look at the rough textures, the visible process of construction. Curator: The way the light falls… almost reverential on those ordinary stones. Calame invites us to find beauty in the everyday. Editor: Everyday for whom? I see the backbreaking work etched into the image. Who owns the land? Who benefits from this labor? Curator: You always bring it back to the earthly, don’t you? I see a universal longing for connection with nature. Editor: And I see the very un-universal conditions that allow some to idealize nature while others are trapped in its hard realities. Curator: Perhaps we both see truths, just different facets. Editor: Maybe recognizing both is the only way to truly see.