Landscape Number 59 c. 19th century

Editor: Alexandre Calame's "Landscape Number 59" is a dramatic scene; it feels very turbulent. What should we take away from this depiction of nature? Curator: Consider this work within the context of 19th-century anxieties surrounding industrialization. Doesn't this romanticized, even sublime, landscape present a pointed contrast to the increasing urbanization of the era? It begs us to contemplate our relationship with the natural world. Editor: So, the landscape becomes almost a political statement? Curator: Precisely. Calame uses it to evoke a sense of national identity, connecting it to ideas of freedom and resistance against the forces of modernization. It's a call to remember what we stand to lose. Editor: I never thought of landscapes carrying so much social weight. Thanks!