Landschap met trein nabij Manitou Springs before 1893

Editor: This is a landscape print called "Landschap met trein nabij Manitou Springs," made before 1893. It's on paper. It strikes me how stark the contrast is between the seemingly untouched wilderness and the industrial presence of the train. What do you make of it? Curator: It is interesting to think of the labor required to produce both the print itself, with its implied processes of engraving and printing, and to build and maintain the infrastructure that enabled that train to move through the landscape. What materials would they need, what resources are taken and at which social costs? Editor: I see what you mean. We’re not just looking at a peaceful landscape; it's a scene that's been fundamentally altered through industry. It is a transformation that reshapes our understanding of nature itself! Curator: Exactly. What this print doesn’t show us is the mining processes which would be necessary to obtain raw material and to construct the train and railway that the title references, the potential disruption of Indigenous trade routes that development requires, and consider the ways in which images of progress were being consumed. Who was meant to consume these scenes? What kind of promise would the railroad offer? Editor: That's a much broader perspective than I initially had. The consumption of the image and of what it advertises! Curator: Thinking about that relationship between image production and societal transformation gives us another avenue for interpreting art's meaning and impact. Editor: I hadn’t considered the work and resources it took to make something look seemingly simple. Thanks!