Dimanche à Hyde Park c. 1910 - 1943

Editor: This is Jean-Louis Boussingault’s "Dimanche à Hyde Park", an etching made sometime between 1910 and 1943. It's tiny, delicate, and kind of… dreamy. I feel like I'm peeking at a memory. What strikes you when you look at it? Curator: A Sunday afternoon frozen in time, you might say. The figures are suggested, impressionistic almost. Boussingault captures the *feeling* of the park, not necessarily its precise reality. I imagine him sketching furiously in a notebook. He then etched the image, layer by layer, in his studio from memory, as an exercise in translating life's fleeting moments to something timeless and reflective. It also invites me to consider the rituals of leisure and the silent dialogues taking place between strangers in a public park. Do you see how, despite the crowd, everyone seems so wonderfully isolated? Editor: Yes! It's a paradox. I noticed that. I like how the bare trees in the background mirror the thin, scratchy lines of the etching. It brings everything together. Curator: I'm so glad that resonated with you. What if those trees could speak and tell the secrets witnessed? The etching isn’t just a scene; it's an invitation to imagine all those stories interwoven together like threads on a loom. Editor: I hadn't thought of that, actually! It gives the piece a lot more depth for me now, and makes me appreciate this piece. Thanks! Curator: Absolutely. Hopefully, now you can envision those threads connecting past, present, and your future experiences within the landscape too!