Raw Siena 

Curator: At first glance, it feels very scientific, very clinical—like a controlled experiment. Editor: Indeed. Here we have "Raw Siena" manufactured by Wadsworth, Howland & Co., part of the Harvard Art Museums collection. It is pigment, bottled and labeled. Look how the color chart contrasts with that earth pigment. Curator: Yes, the handwritten label gives a sense of a specific provenance or preparation. That warm sienna—it evokes Tuscan landscapes, the very substance of Renaissance art, captured in a small jar. Editor: Exactly. The color itself carries centuries of art history. We witness how raw material, once unbound, becomes a commodity defined by both the brand, and the artist’s hand. Curator: Seeing it this way forces us to ask how meaning shifts when art supplies are standardized, marketed, and made accessible. Editor: It's a fascinating reflection on the industrialization of artistic creation.