Flying Buttress 1926

Curator: This is Eric Gill's "Flying Buttress," a small etching. The work juxtaposes the architectural support system with an airplane against a sunburst. Editor: It has a hopeful feel, don't you think? Like a bridge between the ancient and the modern, maybe even a commentary on progress? Curator: Gill often embedded symbolic meaning in his images. The cathedral could represent established religion, challenged by modern technology symbolized by the airplane. Editor: Or perhaps it's about democratizing access to the divine. Historically, cathedrals were these monolithic structures, but now we have the freedom to explore the heavens. The sun feels like the dawn of a new age. Curator: I can see that reading. Gill's use of line is so precise, so clean, which makes the image feel both grounded and ethereal at once. Editor: Well, it's given me a lot to consider. It makes you think about how we reconcile the old and the new, doesn't it?