The Road to Rome 1903

Curator: This is Gertrude Kasebier’s “The Road to Rome,” part of the Harvard Art Museums collection. Editor: Oh, how incredibly evocative. It's a little melancholic, almost haunted, with that lone figure. Curator: Indeed. Kasebier, known for her pictorialist style, really captures a mood here, doesn't she? The way the path winds—almost disappears—into the landscape... Editor: The tonality is remarkable. The contrast leads my eye from the child toward the trees in a hazy horizon. It’s quite dreamlike; it could be the road to anywhere, really. Curator: Perhaps that’s the point. Kasebier invites us to project our own journeys, our own aspirations, onto this simple scene. Editor: Yes, a journey into the self, maybe. It makes me want to wander and get lost in my thoughts. Curator: And sometimes, that's the most beautiful road of all. Editor: Agreed. This piece has left me contemplative, which I think is a real strength of Kasebier's work.