Street and Clock Tower 19th-20th century

Curator: This is Herman Armour Webster's "Street and Clock Tower," a small, delicate etching held here at the Harvard Art Museums. The date of its creation remains unknown. Editor: It has a kind of dreamlike quality, doesn’t it? Almost like a half-remembered place, rendered in wisps of ink. Curator: The clock tower certainly dominates. Webster's choice to center it emphasizes its role as a focal point, maybe even a symbol of civic order. It reflects a time when such structures were the heart of urban life. Editor: And yet the people below seem almost ghostly, part of the cityscape rather than individuals. Are they hurrying towards something, or just caught in the current of city life? It's so evocative. Curator: Webster was interested in capturing the spirit of European cities, particularly through their architecture. These weren't mere landscapes; they were portraits of a place and time. Editor: There's a real sense of melancholy here, a feeling of transience. It's a quiet beauty. Curator: It really makes you think about how cities evolve, how structures come and go, and how human lives flow around them. Editor: I’ll definitely keep this image in mind next time I am in a new city.