Clearing in the Woods (from Sketchbook) 1858 - 1916

Editor: Here we have Henry Ward Ranger's "Clearing in the Woods" from his sketchbook, dating from 1858 to 1916. It’s a graphite and charcoal drawing. It feels so…ephemeral. The sketch seems to capture just a fleeting moment of light within the woods. What do you see in this piece, beyond the surface of a simple landscape sketch? Curator: I see more than just a fleeting moment; I see a commentary on land, access, and ownership couched within a seemingly benign scene. Consider Ranger's timeframe. He’s working during a period of immense industrial expansion and resource extraction, deeply implicated in the dispossession of Indigenous peoples and the disenfranchisement of rural communities. This ‘clearing’ – is it natural, or is it a space created through human intervention, demanding we interrogate the ethics of such intervention? Who gets to define "clearing"? Who benefits? Editor: That’s a fascinating perspective. I was initially just thinking about the visual interplay of light and shadow, but your reading makes me consider it within a larger framework. Do you think he intended that kind of reading? Curator: Intentionality is complex, but an activist reading compels us to consider what Ranger *unwittingly* reveals about his society, through both inclusion and omission. Where are the people who lived on this land before the clearing was made? Where is the impact of the surrounding societal shifts? Editor: So, looking at it again, this drawing isn't just about the beauty of nature, but about the historical forces shaping the landscape. It encourages a conversation about power, access, and environmental responsibility. Curator: Precisely. It encourages us to question the very act of observing and representing a landscape. What is seen, what is unseen, and why? Editor: I'll definitely be approaching landscape art differently from now on. Thank you. Curator: And I am pushed to think about the utility of art as propaganda, regardless of the original intent.