See Saw 1898

Editor: So, here we have "See Saw" painted in 1898 by Frederick Morgan, and it looks like it’s oil on canvas. The scene just exudes carefree play. The light is wonderful, but I wonder... what exactly is going on here? What do you see? Curator: Let's focus on the production and the social context, the what and how. Morgan clearly aimed at a market. Genre painting of childhood was popular, fueled by industrialization's demand for escapism and a sentimental view of innocence. But look closer. What wood was used for the see-saw? It’s rough-hewn, almost deliberately unfinished. Is this meant to invoke a nostalgic "naturalness," contrasting with increasingly mass-produced goods? Editor: So, the raw materials and the act of creating this 'natural' scene comment on the social changes of the time? That's really interesting, especially the deliberate contrast to industry! Curator: Precisely! And consider the labor implied, from the logging of the wood to the creation of the clothing depicted, each aspect, no matter how mundane, shapes our reading of the scene and asks whose labor afforded the leisure depicted, the materials and the lives entangled in its production. Editor: I didn’t even think about where the materials came from to create the see-saw, but the wood makes so much sense. Thanks! I’ll keep a lookout for the clues hidden within the artwork's making. Curator: The art becomes not just the image, but the entire web of labor and material processes that brought it and its subject into being. Now consider this painting as an artifact...