The Height of Her Ambition 1878

Editor: Here we have "The Height of Her Ambition" by Charles Caleb Ward. It looks like oil on canvas. It's got a kind of solemn, hushed feeling to it. What do you make of this scene? Curator: It whispers of childhood games played in the gloaming, doesn't it? The title teases us, suggesting that even on a simple seesaw, ambitions take flight. Do you think the children are truly aware of the grandness implied by the title? Perhaps Ward is painting the first stirrings of aspiration, unconscious and pure. Editor: So you think that Ward is hinting that ambitions are built into our play? Curator: Precisely! The darkness surrounding them could be the unknown future, or perhaps just the end of a long summer day. Either way, it's rather beautifully bittersweet. Editor: I like the idea that the seesaw isn't just a game, but the beginning of something bigger. Curator: Absolutely. Art holds a mirror up to life, and sometimes, it catches the glint of something truly special, even in the ordinary.