The Departure or The Return 1862

Curator: Daubigny’s "The Departure or The Return" rendered in 1862, presents us with a rather evocative scene using pen and ink. It resides here with us at the Met. My initial reaction is a sense of anticipation—a journey beginning or ending. Editor: I agree. The rapid, almost frenzied linework—particularly in the sky—injects an interesting sense of turbulence. Tell me more about its structure. The diagonal lines lead the eye from the water’s edge to the train… Curator: The composition’s reliance on diagonal thrust indeed compels the viewer. Consider the dark ink that articulates the train as it moves right, creating a tension with the more blurred steamboat. Perhaps that mirroring echoes the artist’s suggested duality in its title. Editor: Intriguing thought. The symbolism of trains and boats...they were fairly new then, embodying a rapid societal transition that left some at the port as it passes. This industrial era's ambition is somewhat dampened by the image's monochromatic and somewhat fleeting rendering. Curator: It's almost a snapshot, yes. The sketch is concerned more with suggestion than exact representation. Even the horizon appears to shift with uncertainty! Editor: The image evokes nostalgia while underscoring modernity's disruption of it. The fleeting sky connects earth with sky as the train and the boat pull from this connection... perhaps departure AND return. Curator: Yes! That connection to Daubigny's potential reference to "pastoral versus progress". The sketch seems so unassuming, yet it holds the key for unlocking the door into our deeper understanding of how technological change affects the collective human spirit. Editor: It has definitely altered my original impressions! This journey to nowhere suddenly feels layered and heavy with both intent and content.