A Woodland Scene (The Sun Reflecting on the Dew, a Garden Scene: Echo, Pennsylvania, A Place belonging to Mr. D. Bavarage, 1808) 1811 - 1816

Pavel Petrovich Svinin made this watercolor drawing in 1808, during a sojourn in the United States. The monochromatic palette may strike us as muted, but look closely at the marks on the page: see how Svinin coaxes a surprising range of tones out of simple washes. The thinness of the watercolor allows the paper to breathe, while the artist’s hand expertly suggests the textures of foliage and water. It has the immediacy of a sketch, rapidly capturing a scene and atmosphere. Remember, in 1808, the manufacture of art materials was very different, with pigments and papers made laboriously by hand, reflecting a pre-industrial pace. Even in what seems like a casual drawing, we see the vestiges of a handcrafted world. The very act of capturing this rural Pennsylvania scene on paper connects us to both the artist’s experience, and the broader history of labor and material production.