Spring Moon 1942

Editor: This is Agnes Pelton's "Spring Moon" from 1942. It looks like it's possibly watercolor and oil pastel on canvas, but I’m struck by how this dreamy green space is rendered; it feels almost otherworldly. What stands out to you in terms of how this painting was made? Curator: Considering Pelton’s spiritual inclinations, it’s crucial to explore how material choices influenced the final product. The application of thin layers of what could be watercolor, perhaps mixed with oil pastel, suggests a deliberate intention to evoke luminosity and transcendence. Look at how she builds the texture. Do you think the scarcity of materials during the war years may have driven this economy of means? Editor: That’s interesting – you think the constraints of wartime impacted her artistic process, pushing her towards this ethereal, almost frugal approach? Curator: Exactly. Analyzing the pigments, binders, and canvas becomes more significant when viewed in this historical and economic light. Could this limited palette and these delicate materials express not only a spiritual but also a material deprivation? The ‘heavenly’ subject matter is being represented in modest material form. It poses some interesting questions. Editor: So, you're saying the apparent simplicity isn't just aesthetic, but reflective of both external limitations and perhaps a commentary on the value of simplicity itself? Do you think her method also has something to do with the labor that went into sourcing, or perhaps rationing the material? Curator: Precisely. And consider this: are the means employed somehow reinforcing or challenging class boundaries and preconceived ideas of what art materials ought to be and ought to signify? Editor: I’m seeing this artwork with fresh eyes now! Considering material limitations provides another layer of interpretation beyond its aesthetics. Curator: Absolutely, by looking at the materials we gain greater insight.