Cohoes Falls on Mohawk River, New York 1775 - 1849

Editor: So this is John Rubens Smith's "Cohoes Falls on Mohawk River, New York," made sometime between 1775 and 1849, rendered in charcoal. I’m struck by how this charcoal drawing tries to capture something so massive and fluid. How can a static material do that? What’s your take on it? Curator: I see here an artist grappling with the power of industrial potential through landscape depiction. Look closely at the choice of charcoal. It's not just about readily available materials but the *process* itself. Charcoal's made through burning, mirroring the transformative energies humankind was harnessing at this very location. Editor: Transformative energies? Do you mean... factories? Curator: Precisely. Cohoes was becoming an industrial center in this period. Smith presents the falls as a source of potential energy. Notice how the labor isn't pictured. The drawing celebrates nature, sure, but nature poised for *use*, subtly promoting industrial advancement. We have to see artistic choices like the monochrome medium not just for their aesthetic qualities, but their connection to the realities of resource exploitation. It's not just a pretty view. Editor: That's an interesting perspective; I hadn’t thought about the material itself speaking to industrial power. Now I see how choosing charcoal connects the artistic act to the transformation of resources. Curator: It's about the means of production – both of the artwork and of the goods enabled by harnessing the falls. Even something as seemingly traditional as a landscape can reflect underlying societal values around labor and materiality. Editor: So by considering the charcoal itself, and the industrial context, it reveals something beyond a simple picturesque view. Fascinating! Thanks for clarifying. Curator: Of course! I found this exercise incredibly fruitful as well.