In Sicily 

Editor: Muirhead Bone's "In Sicily" is a delicate watercolor and pencil drawing, perhaps done en plein air. I'm immediately drawn to the way the hazy light almost dissolves the landscape. What catches your eye in this work? Curator: I see an emphasis on the materials and the act of recording place. Notice the thin wash of the watercolor – almost a utilitarian application – and the sharp, descriptive pencil lines. It's less about portraying a picturesque scene, and more about the immediate labor of representing what’s in front of the artist, mediated by their chosen tools and the limitations those tools present. Consider also the accessibility of pencil and watercolor to an artist in transit; this speaks to the very means of production and dissemination of images in his time. Editor: So you see it as less about the 'beauty' of Sicily and more about the practical process of capturing it? Curator: Precisely. How might this differ from, say, a highly finished studio landscape of the same era? This isn't just about *what* is depicted, but *how*. It emphasizes the immediacy and accessibility of artistic creation; Bone is engaging with a tradition of landscape, but making it his own through this almost sketch-like quality, right? And consider Bone's societal context; his participation as a war artist only a decade after he drew this, certainly shifted the way in which he understood landscape and documentation. Do you agree? Editor: Yes, it feels more like a record or study, capturing a specific moment and the labor behind that recording. I appreciate that observation. Curator: I am glad we are seeing this work through the lens of the artistic process and context, recognizing that it is an object resulting from real labor, rather than simply a depiction of a pretty scene. I wonder how it was originally consumed. Editor: That gives me a lot to consider regarding the materials and production when looking at similar landscape sketches in the future. Thank you!