Barzon's Wake Lake, Lancashire 1753 - 1807

Curator: This is "Barzon's Wake Lake, Lancashire," a work created by Sir M. Fleming sometime between 1753 and 1807. It’s currently held here at the Art Institute of Chicago and is comprised of ink and watercolor on paper. Editor: It's got a moody, almost theatrical quality, with that stark, looming rock formation on the left. I'm immediately drawn to that juxtaposition of the rough, dark rock against the smooth, reflective lake. Curator: The use of watercolor is fascinating, really. Fleming captures this sense of romantic, almost melancholic vastness. Water, here, traditionally symbolizes the unconscious, the flow of time, the mirror of self-reflection...and perhaps in contrast to that dark rock, a promise of the infinite? Editor: That rock does anchor the composition, but I'm more intrigued by how Fleming handles the materials to achieve atmospheric perspective. Look how he uses washes to suggest depth – layers upon layers of diluted pigment. I wonder what kind of paper he chose; the texture must have played a role in how the ink and watercolor behaved. Curator: There is something about how the human figures are positioned. Notice that the figures seem to gaze across to the other bank and are very deliberately part of the composition; Fleming has employed this symbolism within Romantic landscape tradition. The whole scene exudes a kind of quiet contemplation of our place within nature, doesn't it? Editor: Agreed, but the technique speaks to an interesting blend of artistic intention and material limitations. Pigment-making in that era, the accessibility of certain paper types, even the weather on-site during its plein-air execution – all those material and circumstantial factors inevitably shaped the final product. Curator: I suppose looking at a piece such as this we become more acutely aware of the weight of memory carried across time and reflected in landscape; of the shared history which infuses the most ordinary and humble of subjects. Editor: Ultimately, considering all that went into the artmaking brings another layer of depth to an otherwise idyllic landscape.