Ampezzo 1857

Editor: This is James Holland's "Ampezzo," a watercolor in the Tate collection. The scene is quite dramatic, almost theatrical in its grandeur. What's your interpretation? Curator: Beyond its picturesque qualities, consider the 19th-century context. Landscape painting often served as a proxy for colonial ideologies. How might the romanticization of nature, like in "Ampezzo", obscure power dynamics related to land ownership and resource extraction? Whose stories are missing? Editor: That's a perspective I hadn't considered. Thank you. Curator: Thinking about the power structures inherent in landscape art helps reveal the hidden meanings behind seemingly serene scenes.