The Custom House, plate three from Original Views of London as It Is 1842

Curator: Thomas Shotter Boys created this print called "The Custom House, plate three from Original Views of London as It Is" in 1842, using lithograph, watercolor and drawing on paper. Editor: My immediate impression is one of bustling activity, rendered with a delicate touch. The colours are muted, almost faded, yet the scene is alive with implied movement. It presents a romantic vision, yet, underneath, speaks volumes about commerce, labour and colonial wealth. Curator: Indeed, there's a remarkable sense of spatial depth achieved through linear perspective and the atmospheric rendering of the sky. Note how the classical architecture of the Custom House dominates the right side of the composition, a clear symbol of power and order, punctuated by those striking vertical columns. Editor: But what is that order built upon? Observe the human scale in contrast. We see labourers hauling goods, indicative of England's imperial reach, drawing wealth from abroad, a system benefiting some, while exploiting the labour of many both within and without England. Curator: From a purely formal viewpoint, Boys displays an exceptional command of the watercolor medium, achieving fine details. His control of light and shadow gives the architecture solidity, contrasted by the softness of the sky. Semiotically speaking, one might examine the various symbols present, all rendered and balanced by careful aesthetic choices. Editor: Agreed, Boys displays clear technical mastery, but his romantic lens inevitably romanticizes, to some extent, an environment complicit in complex structures of class and exploitation. It’s a beautiful rendition but begs examination of that societal hierarchy present within England at the time, and within its relations to its colonial networks. Curator: A point well taken, by drawing on elements of the picturesque tradition he emphasizes beauty whilst glossing over some social issues, which leaves an interesting dichotomy between intent, form and the cultural ramifications of that work. Editor: I'm struck by the way Boys offers us both visual pleasure and prompts us towards more critical lines of inquiry, about empire and its material legacies in England, but I'm reminded that even beauty can be weaponized or instrumentalized toward exploitation.