A Coast Scene 

Editor: So, this is William James Müller's "A Coast Scene," dimensions 292 x 419 mm. It feels kind of bleak, but also powerful. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a landscape charged with the weight of history. Müller, working in the 19th century, was certainly aware of the Romantic fascination with nature's sublime power. But consider, too, how landscape painting often served to legitimize colonial expansion. How does the depiction of nature here, perhaps uninhabited or untamed, participate in or resist that narrative? Editor: Resist, maybe? The ruined structure on the cliff seems almost like a warning about the futility of human endeavors against nature. Curator: Exactly. Think about how gender and power intersect here, too. Nature is often feminized, while the structures are gendered male. How does this contrast play out in the context of 19th-century social and political norms? Editor: That’s a lot to consider. I'll definitely look at landscapes differently now. Curator: Indeed! Art invites us to question everything.