View of Paris 1867

Curator: We’re looking at Winslow Homer’s "View of Paris," created around 1867 using pen and pencil. Editor: It's so gestural and open, yet strangely brooding. I see a kind of raw intimacy in the crosshatching; there is an odd contrast. Curator: Precisely, notice the contrast. The perspective, originating from an elevated vantage point, utilizes hatching techniques to imply form while simplifying the buildings into geometric shapes. It calls to mind Haussmann's modernization project in the period. Editor: It feels rushed, or maybe purposeful in its lack of finish. Look how the material application emphasizes process and preliminary intentions versus a high polished presentation. It looks almost architectural. Curator: One sees a clear commitment to Realism despite its unfinished appearance; the details of Parisian architecture indicate not only spatial depth, but a careful dedication to specific shapes. The light too suggests the Parisian sky. Editor: Consider Homer’s choice of drawing versus painting, this emphasizes a connection to documentation and design rather than a desire to emulate grandeur. We are witnesses to the city as a worker would encounter it. Curator: A city undergoing rapid changes, much like his approach here, perhaps? It lacks a conventional compositional closure. Editor: Ultimately it reminds us of art's relationship with the means of recording life around us; its inherent materiality challenges the idealized notions of the picturesque. Curator: I agree entirely, both materially and figuratively "View of Paris" opens multiple frameworks through which we can see. Editor: And, I’d add, forces us to think about seeing as a subjective and unfinished labor itself.