[title not known] 1971 - 1972

Curator: This work by David Gentleman in the Tate collection features a building obscured by foliage. There's a real sense of faded grandeur about it. Editor: It does. I'm immediately struck by the textures. Look at the interplay between the solid architecture and the almost overwhelmingly soft, draping plant life. What materials did Gentleman employ to achieve such a contrast? Curator: I believe it is watercolor and pencil on paper. The technique allows for very thin washes that create a sense of atmospheric perspective. The social history embedded in architecture like this, the power structures represented, are softened, almost reclaimed, by nature. Editor: Precisely. And the choice of a relatively humble medium like watercolor reinforces that, doesn't it? It democratizes the image, making it less imposing, more accessible. It challenges the concept of the grand estate by its very materiality. Curator: Absolutely. The labor involved in creating such a detailed image, with what appears to be mass produced paper, invites a reading centered on artistic intention. It's a statement about value and perspective. Editor: A perspective that lets us see the interplay between human construction and the slow, persistent work of nature. It is all quite evocative. Curator: Indeed. It certainly gives one pause to consider the different ways we can approach art history.