Study for 'The Cathedral Tours' 

Curator: This watercolor sketch, "Study for 'The Cathedral Tours,'" seems to shimmer with a sort of quiet optimism. There’s a dreamy quality to it. Editor: It's fascinating to consider this preliminary painting by Rose O'Neill within the context of her broader oeuvre and the turn-of-the-century art market. O'Neill was, of course, much better known for her illustration work. These impressionistic landscape studies are a departure and can show us the breadth of her artistic skills. Curator: Yes, you can see the skill immediately. I am drawn to the soft washes of color, that layering of purples and golds… It gives the scene an almost ethereal quality. There's also a feeling of movement here, especially within the brushwork in the foreground vegetation. I sense the hustle and bustle. How would such work play on the stage of impressionist style, with a female artist exploring it? Editor: Precisely. While impressionism celebrated the fleeting moments of modern life, its institutional spaces—the galleries and salons—were heavily gendered. Consider the pressures O'Neill might have faced in establishing herself in both the illustration and art worlds. Did gender influence the public perception and ultimately, the value of works like these? Also, the fact it is 'a study’ can inform about artistic value in social circles and influence, how much did she take on with that knowledge of art as power? Curator: That's such a valid and important point. And the 'cathedral tours,' even just thinking about the idea of "tours," and navigating power dynamics that are in place, thinking through this idea of art having that kind of leverage in a society. We can begin to unpick so much. Editor: Right! Moreover, landscapes provided artists like O’Neill avenues to both participate in and perhaps subtly subvert prevailing norms, allowing female artists the possibility of representing new versions of what an artist and citizen looked like. Curator: Beautifully put! Thank you for that layered consideration. Editor: Of course. It is what such beautiful works deserve; an honest inquiry.