Landscape with Color Notes; verso: blank page 1859

Editor: Here we have Benjamin Champney's pencil sketch, "Landscape with Color Notes." The notes feel key to the piece. What strikes you about the materiality of this work? Curator: I see this as an intimate record of Champney's artistic process. Pencil on paper, a readily available and portable medium, speaks to the directness of his engagement with the landscape. The annotations on color transform the sketch into a type of material data collection exercise, rather than a finished composition. Consider how the economy of the medium influences the final expression. Editor: So, it's less about the scene itself and more about the artist's labor and his use of materials? Curator: Precisely. The value resides in the artist's interaction with the landscape through readily available materials. Does this shift your understanding of landscape art? Editor: It does. I hadn’t thought about the humble materials as being so central to the artwork’s meaning. Thanks!