Landscape c. 19th century

Editor: This is Rodolphe Bresdin's "Landscape," undated, housed here at Harvard. It's a small drawing, just a few inches, but the composition feels vast. What strikes you about the formal qualities of this piece? Curator: The dynamism lies within the stark contrast of textures. Note the frenetic, almost violent, hatching of the foreground versus the relative calm of the mountains in the background. How does this interplay affect your perception of depth? Editor: I see that the density of lines creates a sense of immediacy, while the sparse treatment of the mountains makes them seem distant, almost ethereal. It’s a very effective use of line. Curator: Indeed. The artist manipulates line to create a push and pull, a tension between the immediate and the remote, forcing a dialectic within the viewer. A fascinating work! Editor: I’ll certainly be thinking about this piece differently now. Thank you!