Palazzo d'Oro 

Curator: Welcome. This is "Palazzo d'Oro," a print utilizing etching, by Sidney Mackenzie Litten. Art Historian: Immediately, I see Venice. The dreamlike quality makes me think of cultural memory, how this city persists in the imagination. There's a sort of ghostly grandeur here. Curator: Exactly, Venice, the ever-contested space of romantic projection, the watery stage for a drama between decline and desire. It appears Litten has composed a sort of melancholy portrait here, but what stories aren't revealed in this moment in time? What can we uncover through that gilded history? Art Historian: I agree! Consider the gondolas. They aren’t just boats; they are vessels carrying a history of trade, social class, and, perhaps more relevant today, tourism and performance. Look at how their reflections seem to extend into an infinite depth, hinting at that complex cultural reservoir. Curator: Those figures on the gondolas feel isolated though, which in my view raises questions around labor, the invisible hands that sustain the beauty myth we’re sold in every cityscape rendered in travel and promotional industries. Art Historian: True, but look up to the Palazzo's gothic windows. Despite the hazy rendering, their forms remind us of the artistic innovations Venice fostered and borrowed throughout the centuries – a cross-cultural visual record that is distinct! Curator: Yet those same innovations became associated with privilege and wealth inequality—I feel like it's key to investigate those complex stories in Venice, even in representations like this, especially when those images run the risk of reproducing sanitized mythologies. Art Historian: Agreed, this seemingly innocent cityscape prompts many stories that might be visible—the image holds our personal stories that come through observation. Thanks for providing a thoughtful interrogation of its undercurrents. Curator: And you, thanks to bringing your sharp eye for all that imagery is. I'll need a moment to decompress this visual tension between charm and truth before diving back into reality!