Evening fog over Nantes 

Editor: Here we have Maxime Maufra's "Evening Fog over Nantes," an oil painting. There's a hazy, dreamlike quality to the scene, softened by the brushstrokes. What do you see in this piece that I might be missing? Curator: Let's think about Nantes during Maufra’s time. A bustling port city, intensely shaped by its maritime industries and related labour. Note how the ships aren’t romanticized here. They're presented as part of the city's infrastructure, almost mundane in their function. Consider how the materiality of oil paint contributes – the thickness, the visible brushstrokes – to create a very tangible atmosphere. Editor: So you're suggesting Maufra is more interested in depicting the everyday working life of a port city rather than idealizing it? Curator: Precisely! And the fog, of course, is key. It obscures grand architectural details, bringing the focus instead to the more immediate experiences of the workers and inhabitants of the port. What kind of labour do you imagine occurring in and around those vessels? What social classes might be represented? Editor: It makes me think about dockworkers, sailors… the backbone of Nantes’ economy, really. And how plein-air painting itself reflects a shift in artistic labour, moving outside the studio to capture lived experience. Curator: Exactly! Maufra wasn’t just capturing a pretty picture, he was engaging with the industrial realities and the very material conditions of life in Nantes. He highlights the physical environment but hints at labour and class too. Editor: I see it now. Thinking about the actual paint and the physical setting makes me see how grounded in reality the artwork is. Thanks! Curator: Indeed. By attending to materials and means, we find that even ostensibly beautiful scenes can become potent commentaries on work, capital, and the lived environment.