Landschap met hoge boom 1867 - 1923

Editor: So, this is "Landschap met hoge boom" by George Hendrik Breitner, made sometime between 1867 and 1923. It’s a pencil drawing. It feels very immediate and raw, like a quick study. What do you make of it? Curator: The emphasis here is on the labour. Look at the marks Breitner makes. They're not just lines, they're the residue of graphite dragged across paper, of decisions made and then quickly executed. Consider where the pencil is darkest: near the base of the tree and around implied structures to the left. Where do you think that darkness is coming from? Is it aesthetic or is there some other explanation? Editor: Perhaps it's simply a stylistic choice? The dark areas give the piece weight. Curator: Or perhaps Breitner is using different grades of pencil to create variations in tone and texture. Consider the social context. Breitner was working in a period of industrialization, mass production, and cheaper materials. He's deliberately embracing a medium that emphasizes handcraft, and personal touch. Is this merely aesthetic preference or does it signal resistance to mechanized means of cultural expression? Editor: That’s a very interesting point. It’s easy to see pencil drawings as simply preliminary or less “important,” but maybe there’s more to it. So, you’re suggesting the very choice of pencil as a medium is making a statement about artistic labour in an industrialized world? Curator: Exactly. It begs us to think about the value we assign to art and how the means of production contribute to that value. What does mass produced art tell us about cultural value, as opposed to Breitner's artistic gesture here? What’s lost and gained when a pencil drawing enters mass appeal? Editor: I see what you mean. It really changes my understanding of what seems like a simple landscape drawing. It gives a totally fresh dimension to think of the cultural work of the artist when choosing a specific mode of artistic production, rather than to paint or sculpt in traditional methods. Curator: Indeed. And with the artwork’s relative availability in a gallery setting, a space that inherently ascribes prestige and uniqueness to an artwork. What contradictions does that imply for the average art consumer?