Sawmill, Outskirts of Paris c. 1893 - 1895

Curator: There's something so deceptively peaceful about this canvas, though the overcast sky seems to hint at a coming storm. Editor: Indeed. This is Henri Rousseau's "Sawmill, Outskirts of Paris," painted around 1893-1895, and now held by the Art Institute of Chicago. Look closer, and the apparent naiveté reveals complex social and historical layers. Curator: I see what you mean. Initially, it’s almost a pastoral scene, but then that massive pile of wood shavings and the towering metal structure in the background – are those a gasholder – clash sharply. There’s a strange discordance between nature and industrial incursion. Editor: Precisely. The painting comes at a time of enormous industrial expansion and concurrent exploitation of working classes, coupled with rampant urbanism. These so-called naive landscapes are underpinned by profound socio-economic critique. How does that dichotomy strike you? Curator: There's a sense of disruption— the old ways being subsumed by the new. The figures walking along the path seem diminished, their lives framed by forces much larger than themselves. Who are these figures; where are they headed? It feels significant that we see them from afar; what kind of human dynamic are we presented? Editor: Their anonymity underscores the anonymity of the working classes at the turn of the century. Remember, art institutions began really burgeoning then, acting as a new platform for these discussions. How are they invited to this debate? Do these "naive" stylistics amplify or disarm potential political dissent, through seeming harmless, folksy depictions? Curator: That's compelling. Even Rousseau’s technique, the flatness of the picture plane, almost removes perspective and thereby flattens the social hierarchy too. There is, undeniably, an inescapable political quality to this art piece! Editor: Agreed, and a powerful meditation on the evolving social environment during this era, too. It presents viewers with challenging material around what exactly this "outskirt of Paris" truly embodies. What a thought provoking encounter with a work!