Design for wall panels, mirror, and fire mantle 1850 - 1897

Editor: Here we have Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise’s “Design for wall panels, mirror, and fire mantle," created between 1850 and 1897. It’s a drawing and print on paper. Looking at this, I'm immediately struck by the opulence of the design. What can you tell us about it? Curator: Well, beyond the immediate impression, consider this as a document of labor and social class. This design envisions a specific type of interior meant to house specific activities. Who benefitted from this level of ornamentation and how were they alienated from those that produced the artwork, let alone the laborers that constructed the architecture depicted in the work. What is your opinion on the level of access available at the time this was produced and the degree to which these types of structures reinforce and entrench cultural inequities. Editor: That’s interesting. I hadn’t thought about the work that goes into these designs and how exclusive these spaces would have been. Is it Neo-Classical because it imitates older, similar objects made by other methods? Curator: Exactly! The ‘Neo’ signals an interesting development and deployment of artistic capital by Lachaise and by those who ultimately funded projects derived from drawings such as these. Are the designers and investors merely copying past traditions, or are they transforming existing techniques of creation into new products designed to benefit the same demographics of consumers? Editor: So it’s less about aesthetic appreciation and more about how this piece fits into a larger network of production and consumption? I suppose this helps inform later artistic commentary like "institutional critique". Curator: Precisely! How would understanding the history of design, labor and construction, transform or enrich later cultural creations by figures such as Hans Haacke and Andrea Fraser? Editor: This has really given me a lot to think about. I will have to study the social context a lot more!