The Forge: Passage du Dragon 1894

Editor: Here we have James McNeill Whistler’s “The Forge: Passage du Dragon.” It’s an etching, and the composition feels so immediate and intimate, almost voyeuristic. What strikes you most about this piece? Curator: Considering Whistler's interest in Japonisme, I see this not just as a scene, but as a constructed observation of labor and leisure. How might the dragon in the title, a symbol often associated with power, be ironically commenting on the workers and their place in the socio-economic structure of late 19th-century Europe? Editor: That’s a very interesting take, I hadn’t considered the ironic context. Thanks! Curator: It’s important to see art as a reflection of the social commentary, using visual cues to question the power structures of its time.