Forest on Lago Maggiore [Foresta sul lago Maggiore] 1870

Curator: We're looking at "Forest on Lago Maggiore," an etching made around 1870 by Giberto Borromeo. Editor: My first impression is a quiet intensity. It's a monochrome world, rendered with such painstaking detail that it feels like more than just a forest—it's an emotional landscape. Curator: Borromeo really captures a specific time and place with such immediacy. Being an etching, you get a sense of how the artist used the corrosive action of acid to create the recessed lines which were then inked, allowing the creation of multiple impressions of the same image. Imagine him repeatedly dipping that copper plate, the physical act of bringing this forest to life. Editor: Absolutely! It's not just an observation of nature; it's a laborious engagement with the materials to try and render an impression, both objective and subjective. Look how the marks aren't trying to hide, either. You can follow Borromeo's creative gestures; the process becomes very present. It has an intriguing intimacy for that reason. Curator: It’s true, that kind of mark-making isn't attempting to smooth over any evidence of human touch or intervene with realism as we perceive it but is concerned about capturing the real qualities of nature—how one feels within it, you could say. Editor: You nailed it. Given Borromeo's social context, it’s fair to assume he probably wasn’t lugging his own acids and press out to the Maggiore lake. Labor is stratified and expressed not just through the artist’s hand, but through unseen hands that make his art possible. Curator: Exactly, and speaking of unseen hands, this particular corner of the forest almost invites you to wonder deeper and let your mind consider a world that lives among these trees. A whole society maybe. A little forest community where perhaps an animal is getting ready to go on a journey? It has an energy that calls your mind to make up narratives. Editor: Yes. By paying attention to these material realities, it makes space for appreciating art as more than just an aesthetic pursuit. Curator: Definitely. It also reminds us how even seemingly straightforward realistic landscape art hides complex interactions and labors—not just the forest’s own workings but ours too, in attempting to describe what it is. Editor: Precisely, a rich conversation around production and labor certainly changes my initial, intuitive interpretation, wouldn't you agree?