A Landscape with Cows 1881

Editor: So, here we have Pierre Emmanuel Damoye’s "A Landscape with Cows" from 1881, created with oil paints, capturing a scene en plein-air. I’m immediately drawn to the texture; you can almost feel the dampness of the meadow. What's your perspective on this painting? Curator: It's interesting to consider this piece through a materialist lens, especially given its creation en plein-air. Consider the very act of transporting materials – canvas, easel, paints – to the site. It speaks to the artist's intent but also the accessibility of those materials. How does this method impact our understanding of the final product, compared to studio-based work? Editor: I hadn't thought about the labor involved in creating the work on site! Does the apparent "naturalness" of Impressionism sort of obscure the material realities that go into its making? Curator: Precisely. The consumption of landscapes, like this one, became popular alongside industrial growth. Wealthy consumers could afford paintings showing untouched nature. But where does the pigment come from? What about the production of the canvas? We need to unpack how these seemingly innocent landscapes are tied to broader economic systems. And of course, the lifestyle depicted: whose labour is making possible the seeming idyll of cows in a field? Editor: That’s a compelling perspective! It pushes me to think about what the landscape represents for different social classes during that era. Curator: Right. We must question who gets to enjoy and consume these images and how their value shifts depending on social contexts. How does seeing the work as a commodity change our relationship to it? Editor: I think looking at art through a materialist lens helps ground these seemingly ethereal landscapes. I’ll definitely be researching the pigment trade and the art market during the Impressionist era now! Curator: Excellent. It’s a way of connecting the art to a tangible social reality, rather than seeing it as merely an aesthetic object.