The Sunday Rush Possibly 1862 - 1920

Curator: Looking at "The Sunday Rush," a print and drawing on paper possibly created between 1862 and 1920 by Charles Maurand, what catches your eye first? Editor: The mass of figures. Look at the quick, almost frantic marks of the engraving. You can almost feel the texture of the paper, see the lines carved, and visualize the labor creating multiples of this scene. Curator: Absolutely. It depicts a large crowd, primarily working-class folks based on their dress. Notice how they all crane their necks, their attention directed upward and off-frame, suggesting a spectacle of some kind. We're positioned amidst this 'rush,' made witness to something grand within this public staging. What sort of meaning do you think that adds? Editor: The "rush" is palpable. The people almost blend into one another; yet the image insists on the variety within that grouping – the hats, the shawls, and the slight variations in their faces, rendered possible through mass-produced materials – paper and print media, and all this tells me it was most likely distributed quite widely. Curator: That widespread dissemination is crucial. Prints like these circulated within a burgeoning consumer culture, shaping public opinion and offering commentary on social dynamics. Mass events, and the public’s experience of them, were a central concern for artists. Editor: Exactly. Look closely, and you can discern subtle critiques embedded in the printmaking, the slight shifts and reworkings of lines, and even imperfections becoming essential to the material record of social commentary. I wonder if the materials available impacted on its meaning: given that such images in large quantities are for mass audiences, do we give artists enough credit when such techniques are combined so powerfully. Curator: I think that is a point well-made - our consideration of process really enables an evaluation of an art beyond any preconceived categories and really shows the place of social practices in making meaning. Editor: Well said. I appreciate that "Sunday Rush" urges us to think not just about what they are looking at but who is included within that crowd, and what sort of exchanges or re-evaluation this evokes when we think about who is seeing them too.