Attachment 1829

Edwin Landseer, sometime in the mid-1800s, made this moving image with oil paints. These were not tubes fresh from the factory, but painstakingly ground pigments mixed with oil. Look at how Landseer uses the texture of paint to full effect. See the solid, stony volumes of the mountains, painted with thick impasto, almost troweled on. The texture of the man’s wool cloak is captured with a smoother consistency. Notice too the brushwork on the dog, in contrast, rendered with fine, detailed brushstrokes, which convey a totally different sense of materiality. The emotional weight of the image comes not just from its narrative content, but from this attention to materials and making. It prompts questions about what is considered “art”, and the labor and skill behind its creation. Landseer encourages us to appreciate the sheer amount of work and craft that goes into such a beautiful painting, and its enduring value beyond the moment of its creation.