View of a Mountain, Oppenzell 1879

Editor: So, this is Denman Waldo Ross's "View of a Mountain, Oppenzell." It's a pencil drawing. The mountain looks…peaceful, almost sleepy. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a negotiation of power. Ross's choice to depict this mountain, and to do so in such a delicate medium, speaks to the 19th-century European fascination with the "untamed" landscape and perhaps even signals the taming of the landscape through art. How does the perspective influence your reading? Editor: I guess it's kind of distant, like the viewer is separate from the mountain, observing it. Maybe that separation is what you mean by power? Curator: Exactly. Consider who had the privilege to travel and observe these landscapes. These weren't neutral depictions, but reflections of a specific social class and their relationship to the land and the people who lived there. Editor: That gives me a lot to consider. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure.