Frankfurt 1846

Editor: This is William Callow's "Frankfurt," a pencil drawing. The details in the architecture are incredible. What do you see when you look at this work? Curator: I see a focus on the very labor involved in depicting Frankfurt. Consider the pencil, the paper, and the artist’s hand transforming the urban landscape. The drawing itself becomes a commodity, reflecting the city's own economic activity. Editor: So, the process of making it is as important as the subject? Curator: Exactly. The materiality of the drawing, the graphite on paper, allows us to consider Callow's role in documenting and, in a way, consuming Frankfurt. Editor: I never thought about it that way. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure. It encourages us to rethink the value we place on both art and the environments they depict.