View of the ‘Batterie’ toward Basel 1940

Editor: Walter Kurt Wiemken created this evocative watercolor piece titled "View of the 'Batterie' toward Basel" in 1940. It feels quite somber. With its muted palette and flattened perspective. It almost seems like an industrial landscape. How would you approach understanding this artwork? Curator: Considering this as a product of labor, let’s delve into the material circumstances surrounding its creation. Given its title and the year it was produced, we need to acknowledge that Basel during 1940 was a site of potential conflict. How might the concept of 'Batterie,' implying a defensive military structure, influence our understanding of this watercolor as a constructed commodity, rather than just a picturesque scene? Editor: That’s an interesting angle. I guess I hadn’t really thought about it in terms of military labor or industry before. Does the watercolor medium itself have any significance here? Curator: Absolutely. Watercolor is a readily portable medium, well-suited for quick documentation and perhaps even clandestine observation. Think about the materials accessible to Wiemken. Were they of high quality, or were they salvaged and repurposed due to wartime scarcity? Editor: So, we should consider this not just as a landscape, but almost as a record, an artifact made under specific material and socio-political constraints. Curator: Precisely. It makes you question what labor went into the production of art materials during wartime, and who had access to create works like this, right? What this work represents might be entirely different to someone experiencing it, compared to Wiemken during production. Editor: It reframes the whole piece for me. I initially saw a sad landscape, but now I also recognize its potential context regarding access, industry and the hidden history of its materiality during wartime production. Curator: Indeed. By examining the materiality of "View of the 'Batterie' toward Basel", we gain insight into its deeper implications, as the intersection of labor, warfare, and artistic expression.