Summer 1681

Editor: This is Gérard Edelinck’s "Summer," found at the Harvard Art Museums. It seems to be an engraving. I’m curious about the figure, with the wheat and sickle, could you tell me more? Curator: The materiality of the print itself is key. Consider the labor involved in engraving, the repetitive, skilled handwork. The resulting image, a representation of Summer, then becomes a commodity, available for consumption. How does this process affect our understanding of "Summer" itself? Editor: So the printmaking transforms a concept, like Summer, into something that can be owned and traded? Curator: Precisely. It encourages us to question the relationship between artistic production, access, and the commodification of even abstract ideas. It’s fascinating, isn’t it? Editor: It really is! I'll definitely be thinking about the labor behind art differently now.