Mountain with Water 1878

Editor: Here we have Benjamin Champney's "Mountain with Water," a small drawing. What strikes me is its stark simplicity and the raw quality of the materials. What's your take on this, considering that? Curator: The very sparseness speaks volumes about the artistic process. Consider the cheap paper, the minimal graphite. Champney’s choice of readily available, inexpensive materials suggests a democratized approach to art making, moving away from elitist notions of preciousness. It begs the question of accessibility: Who was this art intended for, and how does its materiality reflect its social context? Editor: That's a fascinating angle; I hadn’t considered that. Curator: Indeed. By focusing on the humbleness of production, we can appreciate the artwork as an act of labor, rather than mere aesthetic expression.