Mount Burgos c. 1804

Curator: This quiet drawing is Washington Allston's "Mount Burgos," a graphite study in the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It feels almost ethereal, doesn't it? Like a memory of a mountain rather than the mountain itself. The soft graphite strokes give it a dreamlike quality. Curator: Allston was fascinated by the sublime, the idea of nature inspiring awe and a sense of the infinite. The scale of the mountain, rendered with such delicate lines, emphasizes that. Editor: I see what you mean. There's a definite contrast between the immensity of the subject and the fragility of the medium. It's as if he’s trying to capture something beyond words. Curator: Perhaps he was, and in doing so, he offers us a glimpse into his own soul. Editor: It makes one ponder the power of understated artistry. A fitting close, indeed.