Granada 

Walter Gramatté made this watercolor, Granada, in the early decades of the twentieth century, a period of enormous social upheaval across Europe. Gramatté has rendered the town as picturesque, in a seemingly naive style. However, the image also asks us to consider what it means to aestheticize a place for outsiders. This area of Spain became a popular destination for European artists and intellectuals seeking refuge from the industrialized cities, as well as the horrors of World War One. Many of these people held colonialist attitudes toward the local population. Looking at a painting like this, we can begin to think about how a place and its people can be changed through visual representation. Original documents, photographs, and accounts from the period help us to better understand the role of art in shaping perceptions, and sometimes even justifying social inequalities.