Panneaux Décoratifs 

Editor: These oil paintings, "Panneaux Décoratifs," attributed to Walter Gay, give me a sense of entering a room filled with landscapes within landscapes. The room's furnishings contrast with the implied vastness beyond, an interesting visual push-pull. How do you interpret this work? Curator: I see it as a fascinating commentary on interiority versus exteriority, and the performative aspects of wealth and taste. These landscapes, reminiscent of idealized Italian coasts, are literally framed within an upper-class domestic space. The 'Panneaux Décoratifs', while aesthetically pleasing, speak to a colonial mindset—collecting and framing landscapes as possessions. What’s the relationship, do you think, between owning art and owning spaces? Editor: That’s interesting. It makes me think about who is allowed to experience those spaces. Is the artist implying commentary on how travel and leisure were restricted based on class and privilege? Curator: Precisely! Consider the social context of Impressionism: these kinds of works, depicting leisure, simultaneously obscured the labor and social inequalities that enabled that leisure. This painting isn't just about pretty landscapes; it’s a reflection on how power operates through aesthetics. Do you notice anything about who occupies the landscapes? Are they workers or consumers? Editor: Good point, the people seem like leisured observers, not workers directly interacting with their environment. I suppose it shows a highly constructed view of nature then. Curator: Exactly. It also speaks volumes about the construction of identity and the male gaze associated with wealth and social status, doesn't it? What have you gathered overall? Editor: I am starting to understand that the work has elements related to identity, leisure, and historical wealth disparity in displaying a landscape. Thanks for all this.