Untitled (Mid-Western Landscape) c. 1940

Editor: This is Joseph John Paul Meert's "Untitled (Mid-Western Landscape)," created around 1940. It's a drawing, likely a print of a pencil or charcoal drawing. The scene depicts figures working the land. I’m curious, what do you see as central to understanding this piece? Curator: I immediately see a study of labor and its representation. Look at the diverse figures. The foreground depicts domestic labor in proximity to the industrial and agricultural, which includes the figures in the background and farm equipment. Consider the economic context. What materials would have been available and affordable? What kind of labor do we think is valuable? Editor: So, the choice of materials—pencil or charcoal—it’s not just about aesthetics; it tells us something about the economic reality for the artist and the subject? Curator: Precisely. Pencil and charcoal are accessible, readily available materials, aligning with the subject matter: ordinary people engaged in the physically demanding, under appreciated act of working. Furthermore, the print indicates reproducibility. Do you see how that situates this work outside traditional painting? Editor: I do, I’m beginning to understand this through a different lens. What exactly is being made in this image; is it art, is it about the farm, or is it about labor and its many faces in the economic landscape? It really calls into question the status of 'art' versus the work that is taking place. Curator: Exactly! And it pushes us to consider how the production of art mirrors and reflects other forms of production and how art elevates our view on working. Editor: So, the medium and the subject work together to make us consider social issues related to the process of making something, be it a harvest, a home, or a work of art. Curator: Yes, reflecting on those social issues within the image is more thought provoking than expected.