Sketch of Trees; verso: Undergrowth 1885 - 1890

Editor: This is Paul Cézanne's "Sketch of Trees; verso: Undergrowth," found at the Harvard Art Museums. It's a delicate pencil drawing, almost ghostly in its lightness. What strikes you about this sketch? Curator: I see a deliberate engagement with the ephemeral. Cézanne, often lauded for his structural approach, reveals here a sensitivity to the fleeting aspects of nature. How does this looseness challenge or reinforce the established patriarchal structures within landscape art? Editor: That's a great point. I was so focused on the surface, I hadn't considered the power dynamics at play in landscape representation. Curator: Exactly. And how might this intimate sketch, absent of human figures, speak to a re-centering of nature, offering a silent critique of anthropocentric views prevalent then and now? Editor: I'm now seeing layers I didn't notice before. It’s amazing how a simple sketch can hold so much meaning. Curator: Precisely! Art invites us to question, not just observe.