Hillside Patterns, Taxco c. 1930 - 1950

Curator: Welcome. We're here to discuss "Hillside Patterns, Taxco," a print by Mabel Mason King, dating circa 1930 to 1950. The work presents a village nestled in a hillside setting. Editor: It gives me a childlike joy, like something from a storybook, or a diorama in a museum, except…it's far more visually sophisticated than those kinds of projects tend to be. The gentle palette with those surprising angles…I feel drawn in immediately. Curator: The organization of forms contributes to that feeling. Note how King employs a consistent angularity in the buildings and the landscaping, almost geometric in their rendering. We can observe that this strategic formalism, this structure, provides an aesthetic stability and harmony within the piece. Editor: Hmm, stability…that's one word for it! To me, it’s all very topsy-turvy, gravity-defying even! All the houses are crooked and crammed together, perched on top of each other… but still feel really livable. And warm somehow! Like everything’s made of sherbet. Is sherbet a feeling? Curator: The watercolor technique utilized further softens those sharp geometries that I noticed a moment ago. This is an important point to discuss. The medium lends a lightness and airiness which tempers any sense of starkness. Consider also the light source—seemingly diffused, avoiding hard shadows that might create tension. Editor: Definitely, everything is so diffused. The colors almost melt into each other like watercolour bleed... giving the town its unique personality. Look at those rooftop shades and faded blue tones on the sky! All that's missing is the ice-cream truck music. Seriously! I'd buy it if I lived in one of those little sherbet houses. Curator: We could suggest that, structurally speaking, that diffusion of form and color underscores the unity and overall design... the essence of the landscape depicted is brought forth in terms of both structure and atmospheric elements... which offers an important interpretive key. Editor: Interpretive key or a sundae spoon? To me, Mabel Mason King captured a place I never knew existed—only in dreams... and with an echo of flavors I already know... I reckon. This print takes me someplace comforting. Curator: A place defined by form and feeling then. Editor: Precisely. Maybe it’s best experienced that way, for once.