Antico Castello 1898

Editor: This is "Antico Castello," created by Giuseppe Barberis in 1898. It seems to be a print or drawing. The level of detail in the stonework is really impressive, it almost feels tangible. What stands out to you when you look at it? Curator: It's fascinating to consider the labor involved in both the construction of the castle itself and the production of this image. Think of the quarrying of the stone, the skills needed to shape and assemble such a structure, then the transfer of this image into printmaking. Each step speaks to a specific kind of work. Editor: So you're less focused on the artistic intent and more on the physical creation process? Curator: Precisely. What can this image tell us about the lives of the people who built the castle or the engraver who made the print? Look at the variations in the stone texture depicted here, for example; how do you think the artist learned to replicate those variations? Were they perhaps involved in that craft? The social history embedded in the materiality is compelling. Also, how would you consider the accessibility of the castle for those inhabitants? Is it for protection or to keep people apart? Editor: That's a completely different way of seeing it! I hadn’t really thought about who actually built the castle or made the drawing beyond Barberis, and how that affects the representation. Curator: Exactly. And beyond this image itself as a reproducible material, consider its role as propaganda, as architectural documentation, as a form of commerce for Giuseppe Barberis, or purely as a piece of collectable memorabilia for wealthy inhabitants and tourist, this is a landscape infused with capitalistic drive! Editor: I see how understanding the production and consumption gives the art work additional meanings and history. Thank you! Curator: My pleasure! It's important to think about art and what surrounds its creation, presentation and consumption as intrinsically entangled.