Landscape, Eragny 1890

Editor: Here we have Camille Pissarro’s "Landscape, Eragny", a watercolor piece. It’s quite small, just nine by eleven inches. It feels so pastoral and calm. What do you see in this work? Curator: It’s interesting to consider Pissarro's move to Eragny. Think about the burgeoning urban-rural divide of the late 19th century. How did artists like Pissarro contribute to the romanticized image of rural life, even as industrialization rapidly changed society? Editor: So, this idyllic scene might be more complicated than it appears? Curator: Exactly. Consider the politics of representing the countryside. What does it mean to choose this view, this composition, at this particular moment in history? It’s a curated perspective. Editor: I never thought about landscape as having a political dimension. Curator: Art is always in dialogue with its time.