Foggy Landscape in the Apennine; verso: Sketch of Landscape 1816 - 1867

Carl Wagner made this landscape of the Apennine mountains using graphite and watercolor on paper. The choice of materials speaks to the artist’s sensitivity to the quiet grandeur of the scene. Wagner’s skillful rendering of light and shadow captures the atmospheric conditions. He lets the white of the paper show through, adding a feeling of lightness. With simple tools like graphite and watercolor, Wagner could carry everything he needed to capture a landscape like this, and the quick-drying character of watercolors allowed him to work with speed. It’s a portable form of image-making, perfectly suited to the increasingly popular practice of landscape painting in the 19th century. Ultimately, the choice of material shapes our experience of the artwork, as a fleeting moment in nature captured with minimal intervention. Looking closely at the materials and processes of art encourages us to rethink the relationship between what is considered high art versus the more humble world of craft.