Fiesole 1963

Curator: Welcome. Let’s consider "Fiesole," a 1963 etching and ink drawing by Jerome Kaplan. It captures a landscape scene. What is your immediate take? Editor: There's an almost dreamlike quality to the print. The starkness, the monochromatic ink, the somewhat scratchy texture – it conjures a feeling of solitude, perhaps even a bit of melancholy. Curator: It is compelling how the repetitive, directional lines in the foreground lead the eye deeper into the landscape, structuring space and providing linear perspective through relatively simple, even minimalist, means. Consider the effect of those lines; it’s not merely representational, but performative in its act of drawing our gaze. Editor: And that’s where the iconography starts to build for me. That winding path… is it a pilgrimage, a life journey? Paths often symbolize choices, directions in life, don't they? This landscape, presented so starkly, asks: what does this journey cost us, demand of us? Curator: That’s a generous reading. However, I'm struck more by Kaplan’s economical deployment of line to convey texture, shadow, and form simultaneously. Look at how a slight change in density and direction can evoke the solidity of a stone wall, or the volume of a tree. Editor: Yes, technically it’s fascinating, but consider the symbolic resonance of trees. They stand for growth, connection to the earth, the cyclical nature of life, all intensified by the barren composition. Even the city of Fiesole itself is ancient— a cultural memory layered onto the visual one we’re experiencing here. Curator: It’s hard to ignore that interplay between flatness and depth; the eye oscillates between surface and simulated three-dimensionality. The visual push and pull elevates the whole experience from simple observation to active interpretation. Editor: An active, deeply personal interpretation, as this sparse rendering of a known landscape opens a door to shared feelings. This image taps into universal narratives of memory, loss, and the inexorable passage of time. I leave here with a palpable sense of quiet reflection. Curator: Precisely, thank you, by calling into action basic elements such as tone, shade, form and texture, and imbuing an understated landscape with the power to elicit the quiet contemplation that lies beneath.