Sketchbook ("Zillerthal Bavarian Highlands / 1871"): Alpine Travel Sketches 1871

Editor: Here we have John Singer Sargent’s "Sketchbook (‘Zillerthal Bavarian Highlands / 1871’): Alpine Travel Sketches." It looks like a simple, aged sketchbook. What can we learn about it? Curator: Looking at this object, I'm drawn to the materiality of it. Consider the bookbinding, the paper quality – signs of its production and consumption. How do these elements reflect Sargent's process and perhaps even the social context of travel and leisure in the late 19th century? Editor: So, you're saying the physical object itself, not just the sketches, tells a story? Curator: Precisely! The labor, resources, and even the intended audience all leave traces. What do you notice about its condition? Does it suggest heavy use, careful preservation, or something else? Editor: It looks worn. Maybe it accompanied him on many travels. I never thought about a sketchbook as more than a container for art. Curator: It's a vessel but also a record of how art and travel were experienced, consumed, and circulated. Editor: That's a really interesting way to think about it. Thanks!