Early Morning in the Eifel Mountains 1932

Editor: This is Werner Peiner's "Early Morning in the Eifel Mountains," created in 1932 using oil paint. It evokes a sense of serenity, almost manufactured. The light is beautiful, but staged. What's your read of this painting? Curator: The striking element for me is the way this painting naturalizes labour and the land. Consider the precise brushstrokes of oil paint - a manufactured material in itself. It romanticizes a very specific type of agricultural life, portraying labor as picturesque rather than focusing on the realities of agricultural production and the means of its making. Look closely at the depiction of the figure with the cattle, how much emphasis is there on what their job truly is? Editor: I see what you mean. It does gloss over the tougher aspects. Do you think the materials available at the time shaped the artist's style, and possibly even their message? Curator: Absolutely. Oil paint, as a relatively new medium at that point, offered a particular kind of smooth finish and control that enabled this highly detailed, yet somewhat idealized view. Think about what that ease of production masks, though. Whose story is being told, and whose is erased through this aesthetic lens? Editor: That's a fascinating point. I hadn't considered how the ease of using oil paints contributes to the idyllic and potentially sanitized depiction. It prompts one to question what realities are being obscured through the artistic choices. Curator: Precisely. It’s a study in the manufacturing of an image, and also the manufacturing processes hidden behind the artistic image itself. Food for thought. Editor: Definitely. I'll look at landscapes differently now. Thanks!