Rangeley Lake, Maine 1878

Editor: This is "Rangeley Lake, Maine" by Benjamin Champney. It is a pencil drawing and the mountains feel distant and quiet. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The linear precision and lack of embellishment points to a search for the sublime in nature, echoing the Romantic era's fascination with the unadorned truth. Champney’s work preserves the collective memory of a landscape viewed through a specific cultural lens. Does the understated nature of the image influence your understanding? Editor: It does. It makes me think about how we simplify our memories over time. Thank you! Curator: Indeed. It invites us to consider how symbols can distill vast experiences into singular, resonant forms.