Landscape, Assouan, Egypt 19th-20th century

Curator: Here we have Denman Waldo Ross’s watercolor, Landscape, Assouan, Egypt, currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It’s utterly dreamlike! All those pastel shades…a visual whisper of a place, not a statement. Curator: Consider how Ross utilizes symbolism through color. Pink often represents love, tranquility, and femininity, contrasting with the green, signifying growth, harmony, and renewal. Editor: The palms, though, are a symbol of victory and eternal life. Perhaps this isn't so much a dream as it is a reflection on the artist's own experience of life. Curator: Precisely! Ross may have been capturing not just the landscape, but also his personal journey and cultural memory. Editor: It’s like he distilled a moment, a feeling, into these washes of color. A lovely, transient little thing.