Toni, Venice, Italy 1895

Editor: This is Denman Waldo Ross's "Toni, Venice, Italy", a pastel drawing. The pastel feels chalky and immediate, and the red pops against the cool blue paper. What can you tell me about it? Curator: I see Ross using pastel not to create illusion but to foreground the very act of drawing. The hatched strokes and visible paper reveal the means of production. The subject, perhaps an Italian working-class boy, is presented through a consumerist lens, a collectible souvenir. Editor: So it's not just a portrait, but an artifact of its own making and the artist's encounter with a particular culture and class? Curator: Precisely. The raw materials and the labor, both artistic and the boy's implied service, become central to understanding its value. It challenges us to think about the consumption of experiences. Editor: That adds a whole new layer of complexity, considering the social dynamics. Curator: Indeed. It's not just about what's depicted but how and why it came to be.