Landscape, West Nanticoke, Pennsylvania 1852

Editor: Here we have Sanford Robinson Gifford's "Landscape, West Nanticoke, Pennsylvania," a delicate graphite drawing. It feels like a fleeting impression, a captured moment. What stands out to you in this sketch? Curator: It’s interesting to consider this landscape through the lens of manifest destiny and westward expansion. How does Gifford's seemingly tranquil depiction serve to naturalize this ideological project, erasing Indigenous presence and land claims? Editor: That's a perspective I hadn't considered. It reframes the entire image. Curator: Indeed. And consider the power dynamics at play when landscape art reinforces dominant narratives of ownership and control. It really prompts questions, doesn’t it? Editor: Absolutely, I will remember to consider such nuances next time I see an American landscape drawing. Curator: Wonderful!