Trees and Dog 1886

Curator: David Johnson's ink and pencil drawing, "Trees and Dog," dating from 1886. It's currently part of the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: Oh, I love the airy feel of it! The trees look like they’re sighing in the breeze. And that little dog lounging there, completely at peace. It feels very...escapist. Curator: Right, that sense of serenity speaks to its ties to Romanticism and to broader concerns around the rapid industrialization of the late 19th century in the US. Johnson, alongside other Hudson River School artists, offered these visions of idyllic landscapes. Editor: It's interesting, seeing that context laid bare makes me question this apparent idyll. Look at the medium, just humble pencil and ink; the process looks very direct. Was he capturing a truly natural scene or constructing a desirable fiction through mass production and available material? Curator: Exactly. The readily available materials—pencil and ink on paper—enabled him to create a visual product that tapped into an urban longing for the countryside. It speaks to consumption too; there was a ready market. And there are interesting tensions embedded in the seeming "simplicity" here; artmaking, nature, labor are complexly interwoven. Editor: Thinking about art's ability to be simultaneously utopian and implicated. Makes you wonder, what was going through Johnson’s mind while he was etching those trees, with a cute, and presumably complacent, pup relaxing below. There's such incredible control in his loose linework that shows care in production that resonates today. Curator: It really prompts us to consider how our desire for beauty and escape are constantly shaped by social forces and production capabilities, wouldn’t you agree? Editor: Absolutely. I am going to carry on seeing those beautiful branches – even as the critical interrogation has given the trees an extended perspective. Thank you!