Low Tide 1930

Editor: This is Frances Gearhart’s "Low Tide" from 1930, a watercolor print. It feels so tranquil. What captures your attention when you look at it? Curator: Immediately, I’m drawn to the way Gearhart’s process highlights the interplay of craft, labor, and material. Consider how watercolor lends itself to a certain fluidity. This contrasts with the rigid geometry typical of woodblock printing of the time. This piece embraces the characteristics of both. Editor: How so? It feels like such a gentle scene. Curator: Exactly! Look closely at the marks, like the individual hatch marks and cross hatching which builds texture into the scene. It suggests a methodical, labor-intensive process. Each color would require its own carefully carved block and layering, pushing against watercolor's free flowing nature and suggesting the labor that goes into the manufacturing process. What is more, its "japonisme" art movement inspiration makes her process all the more pronounced given this method of working was commonplace in other nations at that time. This piece rethinks traditional art hierarchies. Editor: So, by choosing this painstaking printmaking approach, she's almost commenting on the value of labor itself? Curator: Precisely! And consider her target audience – likely middle-class homes eager to consume affordable art with aesthetic appeal. It becomes a commentary on production, consumption, and artistry. This forces us to reevaluate "Low Tide", thinking more deeply about what artwork constitutes high art, craft and commercial good, all categories and perceptions which at the time had strict parameters, but which "Low Tide" transcends by forcing us to interrogate them. Editor: I never would have looked at this picture that way. It really brings a whole new depth to what appears like just a pleasant coastal view! Curator: Absolutely, this print reminds us that artworks can have many entry points for analysis! It helps us think about cultural context as something more than purely artistic vision.