Les Bords De La Tocques Á Pont L’eveque 

Editor: Looking at "Les Bords De La Tocques Á Pont L’eveque," an oil painting, supposedly by Édouard Vuillard, the heavy impasto really jumps out. It almost looks like the paint itself is fighting to form an image. What's your take? Curator: Well, as a materialist, what first strikes me is how Vuillard pushes the boundaries between the art object and pure material. Look at the thickness of the paint, the way it sits on the surface. It's almost like the paint is an independent entity. How does this visible labor of creation affect your perception of the "landscape"? Editor: It makes me think about the physical act of painting more than the scene itself. It's like the labor is the subject. Does the rough application of paint connect to anything outside of the painting? Curator: Exactly! Consider the context. Vuillard lived through massive industrial changes. His embrace of visible, tactile processes – the “hand” of the artist – directly opposes the increasingly invisible labor in factories and mass production. He elevates the making! Editor: So, by emphasizing the physical creation of the painting, he's almost making a statement about the value of labor in a changing world? Curator: Precisely. Think about the tools: brushes, pigments, the canvas itself. Vuillard brings our attention to the very stuff of art, challenging the notion of art as some ethereal concept divorced from its means of production. It is an elevation of the manual against mechanization. Editor: I hadn't thought about it that way, I was caught up in it just "being" a landscape. Seeing the process as a comment on industry really opens things up. Curator: Good, because art isn't divorced from reality! Editor: Right, this reminds me that focusing on the materials can reveal layers I never would have seen before. Thank you!