Westminster Palace, London 1884

Editor: This is Félix Hilaire Buhot's "Westminster Palace, London" from 1884. It's an etching, so it's a print, a drawing even... I find the surrounding border drawings incredibly strange and almost unsettling. How should we interpret this work? Curator: Let's look at the means of production first. Etchings allowed for multiple reproductions, making art more accessible to the burgeoning middle class. The depicted London is undergoing massive industrial expansion. Editor: True. The inclusion of steamships signals manufacturing but that intricate border complicates matters. Does the ornamental frieze act as a counterpoint to industry by representing handicraft? Curator: Exactly! Consider the role of skilled labor. Etching, while reproducible, demanded significant craftsmanship. Buhot is highlighting tensions in late 19th-century society – the shift from handcrafted goods to mass-produced items. Does this tension also include consumption and trade, perhaps reflected in that architectural feat of Parliament itself? Editor: That is a brilliant perspective; I see the class structure embedded in that division now. The building could symbolize industry's capital. The boats and the city need each other in order to function as an image but ultimately need people working to exist. Curator: Right. The border could then represent a nostalgic longing for pre-industrial artisanal practices, even within the city itself. The detailed cityscape contrasts with the looser, almost dreamlike quality of the border, hinting at the displacement caused by industrialization. Editor: Fascinating. I had only seen chaos but now it suggests anxieties concerning production that extend beyond Westminster Palace. Curator: Indeed. By examining the material process, and labor of printmaking we gain insight into socio-economic anxieties of that time.