Dance c. 19th century

Editor: George Robert Lewis's "Dance," a print held at the Harvard Art Museums, depicts a celebration in nature. The sepia tones give it a timeless quality, but there's also a strange melancholy. What's your read on this piece? Curator: It whispers of Arcadia, doesn't it? This idealized vision of pastoral life, carefree revelry amidst classical ruins… notice how the figures are both integrated with nature, yet also set apart, almost staged. Are they truly free, or performing an idea of freedom? Editor: Performing freedom… interesting! It does feel like a constructed scene. Curator: And those sheep, so placidly grazing. Are they just sheep, or a symbol of innocence lost? Perhaps that melancholy you sensed comes from this tension between the real and the ideal. What do you think? Editor: I hadn't considered the sheep as symbolic. I'll need to ponder that further. Thanks for opening my eyes! Curator: My pleasure! Art's always a conversation, isn't it?