Blank page; verso: Two Small Landscapes 1860

Curator: Here we have "Blank page; verso: Two Small Landscapes" by Sanford Robinson Gifford. These graphite sketches, dating from around the mid-19th century, are on display courtesy of the Harvard Art Museums. What strikes you first? Editor: It feels like a memory surfacing, hazy and indistinct. The upper landscape almost fades into the paper itself, a ghost of a hill. Curator: Exactly. Gifford's landscape drawings often served as preparatory studies. The sketches reveal the artist's interest in capturing atmospheric effects, particularly the way light interacts with the landscape. Editor: The lower sketch, though small, has a clearer sense of depth. You can almost feel the stillness of the water, the quiet of the scene. It makes you wonder about the location and what Gifford was thinking when he sketched this. Curator: That sense of place, even in these brief glimpses, is what makes them so evocative. They show Gifford's process, his way of seeing the world around him. Editor: It reminds me that art isn't always about grand statements, but also about these intimate, fleeting moments of observation. It really makes you appreciate the artistic process.