Tomb, Plain of Sharon, 1904 (from Sketchbook) 1904

Curator: "Tomb, Plain of Sharon" is the title of this drawing, created in 1904 by Mary Newbold Sargent. We see here an illustration done in pencil, now held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: The wispy quality of the pencil gives it a dreamlike air, doesn't it? Like a memory half-formed, emerging from the landscape itself. There's a definite stillness and solemnity. Curator: It’s interesting you mention that. Sargent made this sketch during her travels in the Middle East. These personal sketchbooks became receptacles for impressions and cultural encounters. Note the geometric structure on the right which supports the image of a tree – I think that gives you that emotional appeal. Editor: That structure, with the stark lines, is quite intriguing, it appears to be some architectural foundation with both natural and man-made forms melding together in a dance of transience. I imagine that it could be used to emphasize how the natural world inevitably reclaims man-made constructions over time. Curator: Precisely! And consider the landscape tradition at the time. Sargent’s contemporaries were often engaged in capturing the monumentality of these landscapes, perhaps to bolster particular ideologies of nationhood and ownership, which has been written about quite a bit in that era. Editor: But she chose to create more intimate, understated scenes, it seems. Reflected in that style, it's more like a fleeting moment of personal observation than a grand statement. And the tomb is interesting—its rounded shape echoes both the hills behind it and the foliage, blurring the lines between architecture and nature. It feels like she’s subtly commenting on our place within a larger ecological and historical narrative. Curator: This piece then highlights how landscapes become active sites where cultural meanings and historical context converge in really engaging ways for people visiting this exhibition! Editor: It is just such an evocative sketch; it almost pulls you into the quiet contemplation of standing there, witnessing the ancient structure dissolving into the present. Curator: Exactly, these rapid marks in this sketch become something far more significant when viewed with a deeper consideration!