Cour Dragon, Paris 1906

Editor: This etching, "Cour Dragon, Paris," created in 1906 by John Marin, captures a bustling Parisian street scene. It’s almost dizzying, the way the buildings lean in. What’s your take on this work? Curator: The leaning, the dizzying effect, I think that reveals Marin's engagement with modern labor. Look closely – how is this print *made*? The etching process, with its corrosive acid and laborious inking, mirrors the transformative forces reshaping Paris. Editor: So, you see a connection between the printmaking process and the societal changes of the time? Curator: Absolutely. Consider the rapid industrialization, the Haussmannization reshaping the city. The etching, through its very process, embodies a tension. There’s a push and pull between artistic control and the inherent properties of the materials themselves. This is not a clean, precise engraving meant to perfectly replicate the scene, is it? Editor: No, it definitely has a rough, almost hurried quality. Curator: Precisely! That visible labor, those suggestive lines... It resists a seamless representation, foregrounding instead the means of production and, implicitly, the impact those very means had on the lives of the Parisians who moved through spaces such as these. Notice too, how architecture and signage appear intermingled; how the commercial functions contribute as structural elements in the representation of urban development and daily life. Editor: That makes me look at the signage, previously just a small detail, in a new light! So much about this piece involves manual labor from start to finish. Thanks, this has offered a great new perspective! Curator: Indeed! Considering the art in terms of materiality provides new understandings, I am happy to have shared this perspective.