Arequipa, Peru 19th-20th century

Editor: This is "Arequipa, Peru" by Denman Waldo Ross, held at the Harvard Art Museums. It’s a lovely oil painting and it feels very dreamlike. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The arrangement of forms strikes me first. Note how the horizontal planes—the wall, the buildings, the mountains—are stacked, creating a sense of compressed space. How does that compositional choice affect your reading? Editor: It feels very still and quiet, like everything is settled. Curator: Precisely. And observe the limited palette. The muted ochres and pinks contribute to the painting's overall tranquility. The texture, built up through visible brushstrokes, is essential. Does the artist’s hand contribute to the feeling? Editor: It does. The brushstrokes feel very present, adding to the dreamlike quality. It has me rethinking about how the forms and textures come together to create an emotion. Curator: Indeed, the formal elements create this artwork’s affect.