Rocky Outcropping; verso: Old Man of the Mountain, New Hampshire 1864

Editor: Here we see Sanford Robinson Gifford's sketchbook drawings, "Rocky Outcropping" and "Old Man of the Mountain, New Hampshire," likely from the mid-19th century. The sketches feel so immediate and raw, but what stands out to you? Curator: Considering Gifford's landscapes, let's focus on the materiality. Notice the paper, likely mass-produced, cheap. These weren't intended as high art, but as studies. The pencil, too, a readily available tool. Editor: So, the sketches' value lies in their accessibility and the labor they represent? Curator: Precisely. Gifford's process reveals the democratization of art-making, shifting focus from elite patronage to a broader engagement with the landscape through readily available means. Editor: I never thought about art this way. Seeing the process behind the art, the materials, the social context... Curator: ...It really shifts our understanding, doesn't it?