Paris, Quais de la Seine sous la Neige 

Curator: This is "Paris, Quais de la Seine sous la Neige," an oil painting attributed to Pierre-Jacques Pelletier, although the date remains unknown. It’s clearly evocative of the Impressionist style. Editor: Wow, it’s beautifully bleak! I mean that in the best way. It’s the kind of day where the city sort of disappears, becomes almost monochrome, and yet, there's a quiet loveliness to it. Like a charcoal drawing, almost. Curator: Note how Pelletier captured the quays in what appears to be a flurry of activity but, equally, as a social space connected by production: a bridge that seems to emerge out of the industrial infrastructure contrasts the natural snowy setting. It invites reflection on the city's industrial backbone versus lived experience. Editor: You’re so right; the bridge! It sort of looms in the background. For me it is more poetic – I am almost getting a fairytale-like feel, almost Hans Christian Andersen, particularly with the muted palette; it softens what could otherwise be a harsh scene. Curator: What strikes me is the use of oil paint to seemingly obscure architectural boundaries but, really, in its tactile, visible execution, calls attention to the making of the scene we look upon. It isn’t that different to a photograph capturing material transformation across social space and through changing technologies. Editor: It is quite the achievement for a snowy Parisian scene! Almost captures silence somehow, yet hinting at movement, just below the surface of the river Seine! Looking at the city in slow motion - it invites one to meditate on our own passage through time... Makes you think, doesn’t it? Curator: Yes, absolutely. Through Pelletier's piece, one gets a palpable sense of place and material use—a layered historical document about resource use and economic change through its style, medium, and subject matter. Editor: I shall see snow-blanketed Parisian quays with a bit of different, knowing magic from now. Thank you!