Overstroming before 1912

Curator: Oreste Cortazzo's "Overstroming," created before 1912, is an etching that captures a rather dramatic scene. What are your immediate thoughts on it? Editor: My eye is immediately drawn to the two figures carrying others. The image is rife with the classic, damsel-in-distress motif and evokes a strong feeling of chaotic urgency – a Romantic painting, if ever I saw one! Curator: Indeed, and consider the broader context: genre paintings like this often reflected anxieties about societal upheaval. The title suggests a flood. How does that layer onto your understanding of the imagery? Editor: It amplifies the feeling, of course! The flood becomes a metaphor, a chaotic deluge. The men represent the protective force shielding supposed "innocence"—note the figure in full finery! Curator: The interesting thing, though, is to think about where these images circulate. Prints democratize art; they make scenes and narratives accessible. What kind of impact do you imagine this image might have had on viewers at the time? Editor: Certainly. Given its fineness, such depictions served to reinforce established gender roles but perhaps, in another context, encouraged conversations. Either way, the parasol alone, shielding a doll-like woman, is packed with meaning about protection and power! Curator: Power, yes, but perhaps also dependence. The artist cleverly uses these stock figures, but by imbuing it with a tangible human experience like a flood, something usually beyond societal boundaries, invites some degree of questioning to the public in that time. It certainly continues to draw me in. Editor: It’s a truly captivating work and that speaks to the enduring power of recognizable visual archetypes! I'll never look at an umbrella quite the same way.