Minerva Terrace, Yellowstone 1872

Curator: Minerva Terrace, Yellowstone by Thomas Moran, dating from 1872... it's lovely, isn't it? The pastel palette gives it such a tranquil feel. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: It is quite serene. All the colors blend together so effortlessly. I'm interested in how he was able to capture the details of the natural landscape, but what makes it art? Curator: A relevant question. Notice how Moran uses watercolor. It’s not just about representing a place, but about a process of extracting these precious resources. Consider the paper itself, manufactured through industrial labor. Moran then applies skill and artistry onto this ground. What's intriguing to me is how the artistic labor, here, becomes intertwined with that of nature's and the industry involved in accessing it as resource. The very materiality reveals processes that consume it. Editor: So, it's not just a beautiful scene, it also speaks to the act of making art, and its place in that ecosystem. Are those resources valued in the artwork, too? Curator: Exactly! Think about how that artistic decision to present that subject speaks volumes about its context: that of exploration and a beginning understanding of how intertwined resources really were during America's development in that century. How do you now perceive that relationship? Editor: It makes me think of the ethics around the extraction of materials in the art-making process itself. There’s beauty in the image, certainly, but also a question of the work required to bring this vision into being. I’m glad I have considered that. Curator: Me too. Seeing the work through this context shifts the initial understanding and creates new ones!