Tree; verso: New England Sphinx, Manchester, Massachusetts 1864

Editor: Here we have Sanford Robinson Gifford's double-sided sketchbook page, featuring "Tree" and "New England Sphinx, Manchester, Massachusetts." The delicate graphite sketches give it a quiet, observational feel. What strikes you about this pairing? Curator: These seemingly simple landscape sketches speak volumes about 19th-century America's relationship with nature. Consider the term "New England Sphinx." It implies a mystery, a power residing in the land itself. How might this reflect the era’s social anxieties about industrialization and westward expansion, and the changing concept of nature as a commodity? Editor: So, it’s not just about pretty scenery? Curator: Exactly. Gifford's landscapes, like those of the Hudson River School, often engage with the complex cultural narratives of his time. By connecting the "sphinx" to New England, he perhaps hints at the cultural tensions between the romantic ideal and the lived reality of a rapidly changing nation. Editor: I never considered landscape art in that light before! Curator: Art always reflects the times, in ways big and small.