New Hampshire Highlands; verso: Landscape 1860

Curator: Sanford Robinson Gifford created "New Hampshire Highlands," a small graphite sketch on paper, around 1870, now at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: There is such a delicate quality to the work, a dreamlike rendering of form that borders on abstraction. Curator: It reveals Gifford’s method, doesn't it? His reliance on sketches, this one measuring about 5x9 inches, as studies for larger, more polished landscape paintings. Editor: Absolutely. The Hudson River School aesthetic, so tied to notions of Manifest Destiny, is made intimate here. How does Gifford's portrayal of nature reflect prevailing attitudes towards land and resources at the time? Curator: Well, he flattens the landscape, reduces it to subtle gradations. The handmade quality highlights the labor, while it naturalizes a sense of possession. Editor: Ultimately, this small sketch opens up larger discussions around landscape, identity, and representation. Curator: Indeed, it is a glimpse into the artist's process and the socio-political dimensions inherent in landscape art.