Die Gartenlaube (the Garden Arbor) 

Editor: Here we have “Die Gartenlaube,” or "The Garden Arbor," a drawing in ink and charcoal. It certainly feels… ominous. There's a clear contrast between the detailed landscape and the unsettling scene unfolding on the beach. What catches your eye when you look at this piece? Curator: Oh, "ominous" is spot on! My gaze drifts over the palm trees and the suggestion of an idyllic coast but is soon weighted down by the human drama. The colonial figure seems to be almost surveying a brutal tableau. It makes me consider, is this garden a paradise gained or lost? Editor: I hadn’t thought of it like that, almost as a fall from grace. The way the bodies are scattered feels so careless. It's as though they are mere objects in this "garden". The title feels ironic, doesn't it? Curator: Precisely! It's less garden, more graveyard. The starkness of the medium amplifies that. Notice how Riou uses light and shadow; the bodies in full view are starkly contrasted with shadowy, lurking figures nearby. It evokes a sense of something hidden, maybe a buried truth. And that tension... does that say something about the price of expansion and conquest, do you think? Editor: It really does. So much suffering presented as progress... Is there a clear narrative here? Curator: Not explicit, and maybe that's the point. Riou provides enough to spark reflection, inviting us to fill in the blanks and grapple with uncomfortable histories. Ultimately it encourages dialogue. And if we do not learn anything else about the artist, what are we really reflecting on? It seems incomplete to only view the work in parts. Editor: Definitely. I am finding myself questioning my initial perspective on landscapes from that era. It has a haunting quality I never considered before. Curator: Right? And maybe that little haunting will stick with you as you look at the world going forward.