Harold D. Walker and Katherine M. Walker 1895

Editor: This is Frank Benson’s “Harold D. Walker and Katherine M. Walker,” painted in 1895. I’m really struck by the impasto and the loose brushstrokes; you can almost feel the texture of the children's clothing. What do you make of the way Benson uses paint here? Curator: Well, let's consider the social context of portraiture at the time. Before photography became readily available to middle class families, painted portraits such as this documented wealth, aspiration, and power, reflecting a particular way of life. I am drawn to think about the economic power that produced those clothes that produced the portrait and that were so lavish that it felt appropriate for an artist to mimic those materials and brush strokes, to signal prestige for a certain level of consumption. This is an aesthetic choice meant to reflect material wealth, no? Editor: Absolutely. And looking closely, it feels like he’s really highlighting the materiality of the clothing itself. Is Benson making a comment on wealth accumulation here, given the labor needed to create this luxury clothing? Curator: It is worth remembering that impasto—the built-up paint—is also a luxury, it costs the painter in terms of resources such as pigment and time, but signifies mastery in painting. It shows the quality of materials used in artistic production, the availability of which are determined by capital, but I am also interested in the very real labor, mostly unacknowledged here, that the production of children's sailor suits and lace frills meant for the lower classes that produced them, so these children may present themselves as “children of the new era”. Editor: So, on the one hand, we see the labour that makes up children clothes. And on the other, it may obscure from whose hands this finery actually came into being. Fascinating, I hadn’t thought of it like that. Curator: Exactly! Thinking through materials, labor, and consumption gives us a powerful lens for understanding Benson's painting beyond just a charming depiction of childhood. Editor: It adds a whole new layer of complexity to the seemingly simple image of these children. Thank you!