Venetian Red 

Editor: We're looking at "Venetian Red," manufactured by Geo. Rowney & Co. It's a small bottle filled with pigment. What strikes me is how essential, how foundational, this object is to the act of painting. How do you interpret this work? Curator: I see the value of this pigment residing in its production. Rowney & Co. weren't just selling color, they were selling access to the means of artistic production, democratizing art-making. Consider the social impact of readily available, vibrant pigments. Editor: So, you're saying the significance is less about the color itself, and more about its availability and the materials that make it? Curator: Precisely. The bottle becomes a vessel not just for pigment, but for the potential of artistic labor. The history of labor becomes embedded in the color itself. Editor: That's a perspective I hadn't considered. It makes me appreciate the object on a whole new level. Curator: Indeed. Thinking about materiality transforms how we understand art's broader cultural role.