Old Tom Morris 1899

Curator: What a vibrant image! Before us is Samuel Peploe's oil painting, "Old Tom Morris," created in 1899. What’s your first take? Editor: My immediate thought goes to texture. The roughness of the oil paint creates an almost palpable atmosphere of an old pub or working man’s club, a space infused with material comforts, the smells of tobacco, alcohol, maybe sweat… Curator: Yes, and the symbols reinforce that feeling. Morris raises a small glass – of whisky, likely – as if to offer a toast. A pipe in the other hand, a matchbox nearby… these are clear indicators of leisure and social connection of the time. Note how these elements suggest familiar rituals. Editor: Exactly, these small markers. Consider also the implied labor behind each: glass production, the process of distilling whisky, growing and curing tobacco leaves, and manufacturing matchboxes – all linked in this casual portrait, representative of the era. Curator: Fascinating how you've woven the manufacturing process into this seemingly simple genre painting. I'm struck, though, by the emotional symbolism of the portrait. It is about joviality. He’s engaging us, pulling us into his warm social circle with that tilted glass. Do you think Peploe intended to idealize this kind of figure? Editor: Not necessarily idealize, but certainly to document, I would imagine he found in this moment of conviviality some deeper link of labor and community, but also that in capturing such a real and rough presence he could find that romantic vision of art he wished to convey in the end product as much as in the real vision. Curator: A beautiful synthesis. And this image carries with it so much more of its history, the culture embedded within this Scottish scene and the larger narratives of artistic evolution as it was portrayed, it is quite alluring. Editor: I agree. Peploe provides a glimpse into the past that's both intimate and informative, not simply of one man but of the mechanisms that allowed him that moment of ease and release from the rigor. It invites one to contemplate the very infrastructure of leisure.