Poort naar een kunsthandel in Yokohama before 1892

Editor: Here we have a page from Douglas Sladen’s travel album, before 1892, featuring an albumen print titled "Poort naar een kunsthandel in Yokohama," or "Gateway to an Art Dealer in Yokohama." It gives me a sense of serene stillness. What strikes me most are the physical qualities of the print itself, almost sepia-toned. How do you interpret this work? Curator: It's interesting that you focus on the albumen print, its materiality. For me, this piece really speaks to the commodification of Asian art during the period. It's not just a landscape; it's a portal, a commercial interface between cultures. The very act of photographing, printing, and albumizing, demonstrates how Yokohama's art was processed and packaged for Western consumption. Consider the albumen print process: egg whites, chemical baths – labor intensive. Who was involved? Editor: So, you're seeing the print itself as a product of labor, of a specific industry catering to Western tastes? It feels like there is more than meets the eye with the placement in a travel album and not in some other setting. Curator: Exactly. We should think about the power structures implicit in its production. The artist, the photographer, the printers—what were their backgrounds? Who profited? How were the artisans who created the work within the "Fine Art Gallery" depicted or not, and why? Japonisme became so widely accepted due to a series of intricate steps and players behind the scene. Editor: That's given me a completely different perspective on the work, it is definitely not just a serene stillness! Now I’m also considering its place within a global network of trade and labor. Curator: Precisely! It highlights the complex material and social relations embedded in what appears to be a simple image of a gateway. The making of art IS the art itself, at least as valuable a question as the question about beauty, maybe even moreso.