Port Isaac 1897

Editor: This is Joseph Pennell’s "Port Isaac", an etching. It gives me a sense of quiet isolation; the town is nestled so closely to the steep cliffs. What does it evoke for you? Curator: I see more than just isolation. Consider Pennell's social circles and his relationship to the Arts and Crafts movement. This image, with its emphasis on the vernacular architecture clinging to the landscape, speaks to a complex negotiation between idealizing rural life and the realities of class and labor. How do we reconcile the romantic vision of this coastal village with the lives of those who lived and worked there? Editor: I hadn't thought about the lives of the people there, but now I see it as more than a pretty picture. It makes me wonder about who had access to the view. Curator: Exactly! It invites us to consider the power dynamics inherent in landscape representation itself. It’s a good reminder that art always exists in a social and political context.