Rural Scene 

Curator: Welcome. Let's spend a few minutes with this landscape attributed to Adolphe Monticelli, entitled “Rural Scene." Editor: Immediately, I am struck by this flurry of impasto. The painting seems to emanate warmth with these deep oranges and browns dominating the canvas. What strikes you as we look at it? Curator: I find myself wondering what visual memories inspired such brushstrokes, as they become an almost decorative shorthand. Considering this could have been made *en plein air*, one imagines a memory infused with impression and recollection. The eye then searches, trying to make out figures that, upon closer inspection, populate this almost theatrical setting. Editor: Indeed. And are we to think of all of these people gathered together—apparently almost all of them are women—as simply “in nature”? Their gathering becomes the performance of pastoral leisure that echoes throughout centuries of art historical record. How might this reflect class, gender, and leisure in Monticelli's world? Curator: Absolutely, and by positioning the scene within the golden, mythic light, and the rather vague details of their appearance and the location, doesn't this also point towards something symbolic or even perhaps allegorical at work? Perhaps referencing ideas about shared female bonds or their position in a certain type of ideal society? Editor: Interesting that you see myth; I almost think that it is social commentary, however veiled, for its time. How are we to read those symbols through the history of art's engagement with ideas of femininity? Is there a way for the gaze not to exoticize or normalize such scenes, and rather challenge viewers? Curator: It does seem to suggest an opportunity to interpret familiar symbols and signs through contemporary lenses, always opening the field for a discussion beyond pure aesthetics. It also leaves the questions relatively open to newer generations. Editor: It does seem that Monticelli encourages these open-ended questions. We've been given hints, breadcrumbs, to a reading, without easy conclusions. Thanks for taking this brief look with me. Curator: Thank you for pushing my reflections further; it certainly prompts thoughts regarding how the visual arts can act as cultural memories of gendered roles.