Schooner Head, Mount Desert Island, Maine; verso: Partial Schooner Head Landscape 1864

Curator: Sanford Robinson Gifford's sketch, "Schooner Head, Mount Desert Island, Maine," appears to be a preliminary study within a sketchbook. It has a raw, immediate quality. Editor: The lightness almost makes it fade into the page! Its small size and delicate lines create an intimate viewing experience. What do you think Gifford was trying to capture here? Curator: Looking at the material itself gives me a hint: this seems less about picturesque representation and more about the act of seeing, recording a fleeting impression of place. The reverse also has another study. Editor: Right! His sketches were made using simple materials, and they capture a specific moment in time and place. The sketchbook format invites us to consider the artistic process itself. Curator: Exactly, a democratization of landscape that emphasizes everyday experience over grand narrative. Editor: I appreciate how it challenges our perception of what constitutes a finished work of art. Curator: Indeed, seeing this makes you think about art history in a different way.