Charles River at Newton Lower Falls 19th-20th century

Curator: Immediately, I'm struck by the stillness of this landscape. It’s so quiet. Editor: This is Marion Monks Chase's "Charles River at Newton Lower Falls," housed right here at the Harvard Art Museums. There's a definite stillness, but one that also speaks to the long history of environmental and industrial changes impacting the Charles River. Curator: Absolutely, you sense a history here. The colors feel muted, almost fading. Is it autumn or spring? It's as if the scene exists between seasons, suspended in time. Editor: The Charles River has always been a site of contestation, between industry and leisure, nature and development. Chase’s muted palette perhaps hints at this tension, that the river is not some untouched Eden. Curator: That’s so true. It makes me think about our relationship with nature: how we idealize it, romanticize it, and yet, it’s always changing, always shaped by our interventions. Editor: Exactly. And by placing it in this setting, Chase invites a dialogue about our roles as stewards, or exploiters, of the environment. Curator: It gives one pause, doesn’t it? To consider our place, our mark upon this world.