Eclipse of the Sun c. 1854

Curator: Camille Pissarro, an Impressionist known for his landscapes, created this drawing, titled "Eclipse of the Sun." It's currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: You know, it really does evoke a feeling of dimming light. There's a beautiful fragility to it, like a memory fading. Curator: Absolutely. The soft pencil work lends itself to that sense of transience. Eclipses, after all, are potent symbols of change and transition. Think about it: light and shadow, revelation and concealment. Editor: And the use of pencil—it’s so direct, so immediate. It's like we're seeing Pissarro's first impressions of the scene. The nervous energy of those lines. Curator: He's definitely capturing more than just the visual here. It's about the feeling of a moment, a shift in atmosphere, a disruption of the ordinary. Editor: It's a quiet piece, but powerful in its suggestion. It reminds us that even moments of darkness can reveal something new.