Landscape Number 25 c. 19th century

Curator: Alexandre Calame, born in 1810, offers us a window into his world with "Landscape Number 25," now held at the Harvard Art Museums. What springs to mind for you? Editor: The way the light falls feels meticulously arranged; it's like the landscape is staged. Are we sure it's not a theater set? Curator: Perhaps every landscape is a stage of sorts. Calame, I imagine, saw the raw materials of the sublime and sought to highlight those dramatic contrasts in tone. Look at the detail in the rockface! Editor: Yes, but consider the paper itself—the labor of its production, the bleaching, the grinding of wood. It's all part of this manufactured experience of nature. Curator: A fair point. We do often forget the physical processes. Still, that image manages to evoke a mood... almost gothic, wouldn't you say? Editor: Maybe. It's a product of its time, for sure. I wonder about the unseen hands that helped create this scene we now call "art." Curator: Indeed. There’s always more to the story. Editor: Always.