Louvier Road in Winter 

Editor: So this painting, "Louvier Road in Winter" by Gustave Loiseau, appears to be oil on canvas and very much in the Impressionist style. It has a muted, greyish palette that gives it a rather melancholic mood. What do you see in it? Curator: I’m immediately drawn to the materiality of the piece, the physical presence of the paint itself. Notice the visible brushstrokes. Each dab and stroke is evidence of the artist's labor, the repetitive action of applying paint to canvas. How does this labor connect to the location depicted? A road in winter… What kind of work would be required to maintain this infrastructure, to survive in such a climate? Editor: That's a very different way of looking at it. I was focused on the colors and the light, but I see what you mean about the labor. The chopped logs, for example; someone had to cut those. Curator: Precisely! Impressionism is often considered high art, concerned with aesthetics and capturing fleeting moments of light. But look at Loiseau’s choice of subject. He depicts not just a pretty scene, but the environment in which people live and work. He's depicting a space that necessitates a relationship with manual labor for human survival. Can you consider other Impressionist painters in the context of labor or the industrial revolution in France? Editor: Monet painted train stations, I suppose… Courbet as well. This really changes my view of the Impressionists. It also encourages me to see impressionistic art through the lens of economic and material realities of life in Europe. Curator: Exactly! Consider how art institutions themselves – galleries, museums, academies – contribute to the value and meaning we ascribe to art and consider the relationship of Loiseau’s impressionism to those structures, as well as manual labor. Editor: Thank you. This conversation has revealed the complex connections that exist in what might be a fairly traditional form. Curator: Indeed. Hopefully it sparked more inquiries related to Impressionism.