Camp 1921

Curator: Here we have Frank Benson’s “Camp,” painted in 1921. Look at how the plein-air style captures a fleeting moment of everyday life with a sense of breezy elegance. Editor: There's a beautiful immediacy to the painting, wouldn't you say? Like glimpsing a cherished memory. I am quite attracted by the visual layering of steam, mist and sun dappled beach and river… and the somewhat weathered canoe beached in the distance. Curator: Benson clearly focused on the materiality here. Note the canvas, of course, and the visible brushstrokes of the oil paint which create texture, and the human figure becomes secondary to the environment he navigates. It's very much of its time in depicting that balance, between humanity and its surroundings. Editor: Balance, yes! It feels like the embodiment of a nostalgic summer day, a serene interlude. I find myself wondering about that boy, kneeling. He seems to be lost in concentration drawing water by a riverbank while his colleagues busily construct the camp. What exactly is he using and what is its cultural resonance to him, I wonder? Curator: A very pertinent question when engaging with visual artworks. We know so little, but our emotional response is visceral! That said, perhaps we can explore Benson’s process further. Editor: I would welcome that greatly, if for no other reason than that it seems he painted outside, on site. I would be curious as to how this influenced the choices and possibilities. Was it a luxury? Did that in turn speak to the wealth of his benefactors at that time and indeed those able to enjoy leisurely vacations to remote areas. Curator: You are quite right! Consider too the broader societal context. "Camp" presents an idyllic scene. But consider also the labor involved to make the camping equipment the steam and wood. How it speaks to a whole chain of industrial processes outside of that immediate vista… The raw materials of Benson's paintings too had to be mined, processed, transported and prepared! Editor: It's a work that offers a space for multiple meditations. What appears simple reveals layer after layer of meaning as you engage with the texture of its surface, with a world beyond its physical borders! Curator: Absolutely, making us all the more sensitive to that boy by the river's gesture and the silent steam of that campfire!