Mossy Bank 1860

Curator: Jervis McEntee's "Mossy Bank," currently housed at the Harvard Art Museums, presents an intimate view of nature, rendered on a scale of about 26 by 38 centimeters. Editor: It evokes a sense of quietude, a somber reflection on the transience of life, doesn't it? There's a distinct lack of human presence, emphasizing nature's indifference. Curator: McEntee, working in the mid-19th century, frequently depicted such scenes, often infusing them with a melancholic mood that resonated with the period's anxieties about industrialization and its impact on the natural world. How does the representation intersect with contemporary environmental discourse? Editor: Precisely. We can read this as a pre-industrial lament, an elegy for untouched spaces, but its very existence as a commodity complicates that reading. Curator: I agree. The institutional context shapes our perception. It reminds us of how landscapes are curated, interpreted, and made to serve societal narratives. Editor: It's a poignant reminder that even in supposed wilderness, the hand of culture and commerce is always present. Curator: And that’s an angle we must remember when discussing it.