Gezicht op de binnenplaats van de École des Beaux-Arts 1876

Editor: This is Henri Toussaint's "View of the Courtyard of the \u00c9cole des Beaux-Arts," an engraving from 1876. It’s a pretty classical scene, very calm and ordered. What do you see when you look at it? Curator: Beyond the immediate aesthetic impression, I consider the socio-political implications of depicting an institution like the École des Beaux-Arts. This engraving, with its focus on architectural order and classical forms, upholds a very specific set of values about what constitutes ‘high’ art and who has access to it. The École, at this time, largely excluded women and people of color, reinforcing existing power structures. Does knowing that change your perspective on the piece? Editor: It does. I guess I was seeing it as just a pretty cityscape, but knowing the context makes me wonder whose stories are being left out of this ‘orderly’ world. Is the engraving itself complicit in that? Curator: Precisely! The very act of creating and circulating this image reinforces the École's position. It normalizes a system of exclusion under the guise of artistic excellence. We can even see that reflected in the composition itself: it is very staged, controlled. What kind of statement do you think Toussaint was trying to make with this piece? Editor: I don’t know…maybe he wasn’t even conscious of it? Maybe he thought he was just documenting the school, without realizing he was also perpetuating its values. It’s pretty sobering. Curator: Indeed. By examining art through an intersectional lens, we start to unravel the subtle ways that power and ideology are embedded within seemingly neutral representations. Now, it prompts questions about our institutions today, and how the legacy of exclusion continues to influence artistic canons. Editor: That’s given me a lot to think about. I came in seeing a pretty picture, and now I'm seeing a whole network of social and historical forces at play. Thank you!