View from the Capitol 

Curator: Richard Wilson's "View from the Capitol," is a delicate sketch rendered on paper. It's held in the Tate collections. What strikes you about it? Editor: It feels like a memory, faded but persistent. The details are there, but almost dreamlike. There is an implied critique of power, but who is being excluded from that view? Curator: Ah, yes, that tension between observation and critique. Wilson, of course, was known for his landscapes, often imbued with a sense of classical ideals. Maybe this is a quick impression, a fleeting glimpse. Editor: Precisely! This isn't just landscape—it's about the gaze, about who has access to this "view." Who gets to stand on the Capitol and survey the world, and who is relegated to the bottom, to the margins? Curator: Perhaps Wilson is hinting at the inherent inequalities of such a perspective. I appreciate the economy of line—how he manages to capture so much with so little. Editor: Absolutely. It's a potent reminder that even the most seemingly innocent landscape can be deeply implicated in systems of power and exclusion. Curator: A landscape charged with quiet resistance. Editor: And a powerful question mark.