View from Fishkill Looking To West-Point (No. 15 of The Hudson River Portfolio) 1825

Editor: This is "View from Fishkill Looking to West-Point," a print from 1825 by John Rubens Smith, and it’s so serene. The composition with the river and the hills feels very balanced. I'm curious, what strikes you most about this piece? Curator: It’s a lovely image, certainly. I'm particularly interested in how Smith utilized etching and watercolor together in a singular print. Prints were obviously not as highly esteemed, or valued as painting. How does Smith attempt to address this challenge by making a “Hudson River School” painting into a reproducible image intended for mass consumption? Editor: That's fascinating. So, the labor of creating a print elevates a view to mass appeal? I mean, the work becomes available to so many more people! Curator: Precisely! Consider the context of the time. The Hudson River School artists captured a landscape increasingly impacted by industry, expansion, and consumption, including an appreciation of materials sourced from it. So, this isn't just a pretty picture; it is actively about exploiting that. Does the choice of print, rather than painting, complicate this or even celebrate its accessibility? Editor: So, it is like Smith democratizes art through the reproductive labor involved, offering beauty and a chance to consume that vision to the growing middle class! Curator: Exactly. The medium here is the message. The piece underscores the social context of art consumption and class aspirations of the 19th century. How might we look at all “fine art” and see something akin to this? Is this work a blueprint for new modes of consumption or cultural understanding? Editor: This is such an insightful reading! I’ll never look at landscape prints the same way again. Curator: And I'm also prompted to re-evaluate if there are social values implied when viewing this work, for then, and still for us, now.