French study for ‘une séance du jury de peinture’ 

Curator: Gervex's "French study for 'une séance du jury de peinture'" depicts, I think, a rather murky, intense scene. It has the feel of something observed candidly, almost like a fleeting snapshot. Editor: Murky is the right word! Immediately I’m thinking about the labor involved in producing these formal portraits alongside, perhaps, commentary on the consumption of art. This reminds us that what hangs on walls went through an industrial process of sorts. Curator: Indeed. The somewhat drab palette throws this reality into high relief. The artist really seems to focus in on the ritualized processes behind aesthetic judgment, behind the art world—its somewhat mysterious machinations. Don't you find the facelessness of the figures compelling? It’s not really about individuals. Editor: It's a sharp critique, rendered in charcoal and oils—common materials that point to art’s commercial side, and in its capacity to render critique accessible to many audiences, speaks volumes! Look at the density of figures towards the right, but also how little their features define them. Masses but also mechanisms. Curator: Absolutely, and even the artist's loose brushwork creates this kind of buzzing energy. Almost frenetic, it could hint at how art could be, or perhaps inevitably *is*, work. Perhaps it represents all of those hopes and dreams dashed in these types of competitions. Editor: Precisely, the materiality screams a narrative that is at once industrial and deeply personal. Each dab of paint represents choices, constraints, access—it turns taste into process. Even today, what labor goes into what and who deems quality has significant implications, from fair labor in fabrication, but also where work and consumption intersects. Curator: Looking at the painting again, the more that I do so, the more I'm affected by the mood and also the sense of anonymity. Gervex certainly sparks important ideas about process. Editor: The artwork, rendered with charcoal and oil, gives us a critical angle to consider taste, judgement and class in the creation and distribution of art.