Playing Scales 

Curator: Today, we're looking at "Playing Scales" by Carl Larsson, an intriguing painting rendered with what appears to be watercolor and oil paint. Editor: Immediately, I'm struck by the overwhelming materiality of the scene – the smooth polish of the piano, juxtaposed with the textured cover and the child's stark black and white uniform. It's all about contrasting surfaces. Curator: It’s interesting to note the interplay between the domestic setting and the artistic influences visible within the painting. We have the young girl practicing piano within the family's private sphere, while an atelier’s worth of images adorn the walls and piano itself. Look at the image affixed to the piano! Editor: Right! That placement seems highly purposeful, blurring the boundaries between high art and the everyday practice of, well, scales. Consider the labor implied – not only the child’s tedious practice, but also the creation of that imposing piano itself, probably in an industrial manufactory. The politics of display is also hard to miss here; the sheet music looks heavy and new but is just beyond the frame—Larsson is interested in what labor should look like from afar. Curator: And yet the intimacy of the genre painting pulls us in. I wonder how the cultural significance of music education factored into this depiction. What values was Larsson reflecting? Editor: Maybe that bourgeois cultivation through rigorous discipline, made tolerable by softening it for public consumption. Curator: Interesting point. And what do you make of the other adornments—the wall-mounted sculptures, vases, and paintings, or even that whimsical wallpaper pattern? Editor: It’s all about constructing and broadcasting status. Each item functions as a marker of their identity within their particular community and even as consumer byproducts in the global world. The piano as both tool of cultural mobility but also economic status in that era is interesting to me. Curator: The socio-economic background of the child’s access to music education then influences our understanding of Larsson's intentions. It also speaks to how we define skill and effort, isn’t it? Editor: Precisely! Thanks, in taking the time, to point that out to me.