Wassenburg am Inn 1924

Editor: This is Paul Kleinschmidt's watercolor, "Wassenburg am Inn," with no known date, housed at Harvard Art Museums. The colors are so muted, almost faded, and it feels incomplete. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I notice the stark contrast between the constructed tunnel and the natural forms around it. The materiality of the paint itself, its thinness, speaks to a scarcity perhaps, mirroring the economic conditions that Kleinschmidt lived through. How does this tension impact your reading? Editor: I hadn't considered the materials themselves as a commentary. The light wash now feels like it's reflecting the economic landscape of its time. Curator: Exactly. The process and materials become integral to understanding the artwork's broader social context. Editor: Seeing the art through the lens of its production has opened my eyes. Curator: Mine too! It shifts our focus to the labor involved and the conditions that shaped it.