Santa Marguerite 1906

Editor: Here we have Wassily Kandinsky's "Santa Marguerite," painted in 1906. The artwork is crafted with oil paint, employing an Impressionistic plein-air style. I am particularly drawn to the bold, almost chunky application of paint which gives a real sense of the physicality of the materials used. How do you approach this work? Curator: I find it compelling to consider "Santa Marguerite" through the lens of labor and materiality. Think about the production of oil paints in 1906. Each pigment was likely painstakingly sourced, ground, and mixed. The artist's choice of those particular pigments, their availability, and their cost would have profoundly impacted the work's aesthetic. Do you think the choice of a smaller scale suggests anything about its production and intended audience? Editor: That's fascinating, I hadn’t considered the implications of pigment sourcing at that time. Maybe its size makes it a more transportable artwork, easier to sell or trade? Curator: Precisely. Moreover, consider the shift from the idealized landscapes produced by academic painters who benefited from institutional patronage to someone like Kandinsky embracing "Plein Air". He is removing himself from the traditional studio setting to directly engage the world and also reflect on the role and potentiality of paint as a conduit of nature. He makes it, shows it, offers it in the marketplace, thus transforming the role of the artist within a changing economic and social environment. It also asks how landscape painting may be made accessible for everyone. Do you agree that a relationship emerges between artist, process and consumer? Editor: That connection between the means of production, the shift in the role of the artist, and the intended market does reshape my interpretation of its artistic merit. I appreciate your emphasizing the link between the painting’s physicality and its place within evolving structures of artistic production and consumption. Curator: And in turn, I value your insights regarding transportability and artistic value.