Dimensions: support: 251 x 352 mm
Copyright: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: This is "Ramsgate" by James Tissot, currently residing at the Tate. The crisscrossing lines give it this very intricate, almost claustrophobic feel despite the open view. How do you interpret this scene? Curator: Tissot, known for chronicling modern life, gives us a carefully constructed view, not just of a harbour, but of the experience of viewing it. Editor: Experience? Curator: Yes. Notice how the interior space frames the industrial activity of the harbour. It presents a curated perspective on the changing landscape and social fabric of Victorian England. The leisure class observing commerce and labour from a comfortable distance. What does that distance suggest to you? Editor: Perhaps a commentary on the separation between social classes at the time. Thanks, I hadn’t considered that. Curator: Exactly! It reveals the complexities of observation and social commentary within seemingly simple scenes.
Comments
Join the conversation
Join millions of artists and users on Artera today and experience the ultimate creative platform.
This pen-and-ink drawing shows a room overlooking the seaside town of Ramsgate. The beach and harbour were popular subjects for 19th-century artists, but Tissot’s unusual interior view shows only a glimpse of boats. He uses the linear medium to weave a pattern of masts, architecture and furniture. Resorts like Ramsgate were often settings for modern-life novels and plays such as those of Wilkie Collins. The empty room suggests absence and events past or yet to come. Tissot added figures to the scene in three other versions of this composition. Gallery label, October 2013
CollectMore like this
