Untitled c. 1973

Editor: So this is an Untitled pastel drawing by George Bunker, dating to around 1973. I find the combination of land, sea, and sky so calming, almost like a memory. What jumps out at you about this work? Curator: Well, immediately I'm drawn to the pastel medium itself. Consider the ready availability of pastels around 1973, the democratization of art-making facilitated by mass production. This wasn't some rarefied oil paint only accessible to the elite; this was something almost anyone could pick up and use. Editor: That’s interesting! I hadn’t thought about it that way. So you’re saying the materials themselves have a kind of social significance? Curator: Exactly. And look at the paper. It's a sketchpad sheet, the kind that would have been widely available, wire-bound… There's a sense of immediacy, of art made *within* the everyday. It suggests plein-air work; did Bunker labor to transport the means to make the work on site? Editor: Yes! I can almost imagine the artist out there, capturing the scene directly. But doesn't the beauty of the landscape elevate it beyond the ordinary? Curator: Perhaps. But consider also how that beauty is mediated through these accessible, mass-produced materials. It forces us to reconsider the definition of art itself, and what constitutes "high" art versus simple, material engagement. It asks: Who had access and by which means did they encounter landscape? Editor: I see your point. By focusing on the materials and their context, we get a broader understanding of not just the artwork itself, but the social and economic forces at play. Curator: Precisely. And it prompts us to think critically about the relationship between artistic expression, labor, and the means of production. Editor: That makes me think about how different things were for artists then! Thanks. Curator: You’re welcome. It has been a thought-provoking moment for myself as well.