Sketch of women in an interior – unidentified illustration 

Curator: This drawing by Edwin Austin Abbey is entitled "Sketch of women in an interior – unidentified illustration." It seems to be rendered primarily in watercolor and gouache. What's your initial take on it? Editor: Mmm, a quiet anticipation. A bit like waiting for the curtain to rise on a play. The loose brushstrokes, the way the figures blend... it feels fleeting, almost a memory. Curator: Indeed. Given the material, one could reasonably consider how the watercolor as a medium facilitated the efficient mass reproduction of illustrations in the 19th and early 20th century for novels and periodicals, significantly influencing social narratives and perceptions. It brings up interesting questions about value. Editor: Value, huh? It's got this dreamlike quality, almost unfinished, you know? It's like a stage set, the figures arranged just so, maybe hinting at narratives in ways photographs from back then rarely attempt. You kind of fill in the blanks yourself. Curator: Exactly! Because the sketch is also a commodity, produced for a specific market within a certain mode of artistic manufacture, we can interrogate the historical systems that shaped the aesthetics and dissemination of such images, including its effect on contemporary views of class and gender, perhaps. Editor: Ah, there you go! Gender…Look at that woman in blue! There's something regal, almost severe, about her posture. I can't help but think what stories her dress alone could tell, from the textile mills to her very proper sitting room. That’s value I think. Curator: Absolutely. By looking at how the watercolors themselves are created and received we expose the larger socio-economic conditions that structured Abbey’s practice and this illustration as an aesthetic, mass-produced object of consumption, regardless of whether it ever appeared in a popular magazine. Editor: You're right, and knowing all that adds even another layer, right? Thinking about the making and the markets involved? Makes you look closer at every little detail. I suppose the magic’s in letting those stories unfold in your own mind… Thanks for the insights! Curator: My pleasure. It's rewarding to dissect the work, see the confluence of factors in its making and impact.