Kumkapi boat ride in Constantinople 1846

Curator: "Kumkapi Boat Ride in Constantinople" by Ivan Aivazovsky, created in 1846 using oil paint. It has an ethereal quality, and I can almost feel the heat radiating from the buildings. What strikes you? Editor: What’s most compelling to me is the depiction of everyday life but through a lens of...what? Exoticism? How do you interpret this work, considering its materials and production? Curator: The brushstrokes themselves seem to serve a dual purpose. They romanticize Constantinople as a vibrant hub, while also potentially obscuring the labor that sustains this perceived idyll. Oil paint, allows for rich textures, which here romanticize the “oriental” mystique of Constantinople. Editor: So, the artist’s choices are embedded with potentially problematic colonial undertones? Curator: Precisely. It forces us to consider: what materials were readily available to Aivazovsky, and how does the choice of those materials – along with the very act of painting this scene – connect to trade routes, the distribution of wealth, and perhaps, exploitation? Editor: That’s a powerful way to look at it. It definitely makes me rethink my initial romantic read. I was so focused on the subject matter itself. Curator: Context always changes everything, but, with the materialist perspective, one can really understand what the image means and how that has social implications. The artist has the paint to depict this and someone also needs to get him the paint. Editor: This has really opened my eyes to considering the bigger picture. The “how” is as important as the “what.” Curator: Exactly. Considering labor and trade helps one have a better idea of art.