Perce Rock, Belle Isle Straits 

Editor: So, here we have what appears to be an oil painting called "Perce Rock, Belle Isle Straits" by William Bradford. I'm struck by its somewhat ominous, brooding feel. The light feels concentrated on that central rock formation, almost like a beacon in a stormy sea. What stands out to you most when you look at this, like, what does your gut tell you? Curator: My gut tells me a story! This isn't just a landscape, it’s a mood, a feeling – a soulscape, perhaps. I see the Hudson River School influence writ large – a kind of Romantic idealization, almost yearning, for the sublime in nature. Notice how Bradford contrasts the rough, almost primitive textures of the rock with the smoother surfaces of the water and sky? He’s playing with our perceptions, hinting at something deeper than surface beauty. It’s nature as both beautiful and untamable, which Bradford seems to have explored extensively, and what's more romantic than the untamable? Editor: I can see the romanticism there, absolutely, that untamable quality…but doesn't it feel a little bit staged or heightened? Curator: Absolutely! I think you’re right to sense a degree of drama, of deliberate composition. These artists weren’t simply copying nature, they were interpreting it, shaping it, loading it with meaning. Do you see any symbolism that catches your eye? Is Bradford offering us a warning? A challenge? Maybe the rock *is* supposed to feel theatrical. He wants us to feel something larger than life. Editor: That’s a perspective shift, thinking of the painting as aiming for a specific feeling, and creating theatre. Makes you look beyond just representation of the scene. Thanks. Curator: My pleasure, now that my "theatrical" metaphor has got me thinking: all the world's a stage, indeed!