Landscape c. 19th century

Editor: This is Léon Villevieille's "Landscape," an undated print at the Harvard Art Museums. It's got two little scenes, a road lined with trees, and a dilapidated house. It feels so bleak. What do you make of it? Curator: It’s interesting to consider these landscapes within the context of rural life. What stories do you think these images tell about labor, class, and the relationship to the land? Perhaps it's not just bleak, but a social commentary. Editor: A commentary? The house does look awfully run-down. Is that a political statement? Curator: Potentially. Consider the time in which it was made and the social realities. Is it romanticizing rural life or critiquing the conditions in which some people lived? Editor: Wow, I hadn't thought of it that way. I guess art can be more than just pretty pictures. Curator: Precisely. It’s a mirror reflecting society back at itself, inviting us to question what we see.