The Smithy c. 1890

Editor: This is "The Smithy" by Myles Birket Foster, currently residing at the Tate. It's undated, and rendered in watercolour on paper. I'm struck by the depiction of labor, the smithy in action, the agricultural tasks… What does it all signify? Curator: Notice the material reality: Foster depicts labour, but romanticizes it. Consider the consumption of such images: a burgeoning middle class eager to consume idealized versions of rural life, far removed from the harsh realities of agricultural work and industrial production. Editor: So, it's not just about what's depicted, but who it was made for, and how they used it? Curator: Precisely. The value isn't inherent; it's constructed through production, distribution, and consumption. It makes you rethink the role of art. Editor: I never really thought about it that way.