Der Monte Castiglione mit der Festung auf der Spitze, im Hintergrund auf dem Monte Tibero die Villa Jovis, rechts die Faraglioni vor Capri 21 - 1835

Curator: Carl Morgenstern's "Der Monte Castiglione mit der Festung auf der Spitze, im Hintergrund auf dem Monte Tibero die Villa Jovis, rechts die Faraglioni vor Capri," from 1835. A mouthful, isn't it? Editor: It is! The mountain’s imposing, kind of a brooding presence looming over the sea. All delicate pencil work; makes me think of early morning light. What's the social story here? Curator: Well, Morgenstern, firmly within Romanticism, clearly chose pencil for its portability. This wasn’t a studio piece, but something done on location, likely as a preparatory study for a larger oil painting. The rapid capture of the scene and its material translation reflect an efficiency, you could say, in exploiting natural resources for his creative labour. Editor: Efficiency...or a love of the plein air experience? Look at how the pencil renders the light on those rocky outcrops. It's practically tactile! One can almost feel the salty spray. But I understand, this method points towards mass reproduction, not individual artisanry, right? Curator: Precisely. Although Romantic, Morgenstern demonstrates the commodification of even seemingly untouched nature. Sketches like this become reproducible, sellable images catering to the bourgeois appetite for scenic views. The materiality speaks of artistic strategy, where observation becomes economy. Editor: Interesting, because to me it reads like pure, untainted emotion. Almost a yearning...perhaps for simpler times? Look, there isn’t really any human presence! Perhaps its the beginning of eco-criticism? The artist might be signalling, at a fundamental level, that it doesn’t matter who claims authority, Nature itself endures. Curator: Perhaps! It does leave one contemplative. Editor: Exactly. And now I want a vacation... and my sketchbook! Curator: Mine's over here let's compare pencil mileage, or something suitably dry and process-oriented.