Withered Rush-blossom (Exercise in Lamp-Black) 1873

Curator: Standing before us is John Ruskin’s “Withered Rush-blossom (Exercise in Lamp-Black),” undated, but likely from the 1870s. It resides in the Harvard Art Museums collection. Editor: It’s stark, almost ghostly. The lamp-black gives it such a delicate, ephemeral feel. Curator: Lamp-black, a pigment derived from soot, was readily available, inexpensive. Ruskin's focus on it speaks to a deep engagement with accessible materials. Editor: And it’s not just about the soot, is it? Ruskin was obsessed with the symbolism of decay, of acknowledging the inevitable decline in nature. Curator: Precisely! He saw beauty not just in idealized forms, but in the process of withering, reflecting a broader philosophical interest in mortality and truth. Editor: So, a humble material, lamp-black, used to capture a moment of fading life. It makes you wonder about the labor involved, the artist's hand so intimately tracing the blossom's decline. Curator: It's a poignant reminder that even in decay, there's an inherent beauty, and Ruskin, as always, sought to illuminate it.