Plans, And Views in Perspective. With Descriptions, Of Buildings Erected In England and Scotland: and also an essay, to elucidate the Grecian, Roman and Gothic architecture, accompanied with designs. 1801

Curator: This print from 1801 is titled, "Plans, and Views in Perspective. With Descriptions, Of Buildings Erected In England and Scotland: and also an essay, to elucidate the Grecian, Roman and Gothic architecture, accompanied with designs." by Robert Mitchell. Editor: My first impression is a sort of exploded diagram, revealing layers of activity within a single, structured space. There's something clinical, almost surgical, in the way it slices through the building. Curator: It’s an elevation, of course, a very common form for architectural renderings, but it is unique because it shows the exhibition of Panoramas, so really an insight into how the public consumed landscape painting at the time. Look closely at the figures gazing at the various paintings…each a separate, staged reality. Editor: Right, the receding tiers offer depth, and the repeated figure allows you to witness each setting simultaneously. What strikes me is the contrast between the rigid geometry of the structure and the flowing naturalistic renderings in the interior. Curator: It's that dialectic between man and nature, a quintessential neoclassical theme. Architecture providing an artifical way to view nature and giving the perspective the eye might have when witnessing the world. Also notice the cultural significance embedded within; the viewer is literally placed "above" or in control of the scene itself. Editor: The artist presents perspective literally as well as metaphorically through color and texture. I keep coming back to this contrast, it seems highly structured at first and that initial severity melts into dreamlike images. The scale adds to this quality. The drawing invites a sense of architectural control but immediately allows room for more freedom. Curator: Mitchell provides us an insight into both the era’s aesthetic preoccupations but also its understanding of the natural world, that humans not only observe it but frame and, by extension, define its experience for an audience. Editor: A complex interplay of observation, manipulation, and the art of seeing… a really intriguing composition on multiple levels.