Good shepherd 1918

Curator: Ah, yes, Tadeusz Makowski's "Good Shepherd" from 1918, rendered in oil paint. The texture seems so thick, doesn't it? Editor: It does. There's a real earthy feel to it, and you can see the brushstrokes, especially in the shepherd's beard. What strikes you most about the materials used in creating this piece? Curator: It's interesting to consider what that choice of oil paints meant at the time, in 1918. Remember, during and after the war, materials were scarce. What did it signify, materially and socially, for Makowski to devote so much pigment to this subject? Was it commentary on class, faith, rural hardship, or perhaps a symbolic critique of power? Editor: That's fascinating! I hadn't considered the constraints on materials. Did that context affect other artists’ choices, leading to different stylistic trends? Curator: Absolutely. Think about the proliferation of assemblage and collage after the war; artists began incorporating found materials, waste, and repurposed objects into their art as an expression of their historical time. Is Makowski doing something similar here by focusing on the materiality of paint and depicting an antiquated trope from the Bible in thick strokes? How is it made? Why is it made? What labor and resources went into this image and what is the effect of that visual impact? Editor: So, by focusing on the materials and methods, we can see beyond the surface-level narrative and find layers of social and economic commentary. Curator: Precisely. It asks us to look at the very conditions of the painting’s production and what it was designed to project during the final stages of a global war, and what role that message now has for us. Editor: I will never look at a painting the same way again! Curator: Exactly. We can start by recognizing what things are MADE of.