The Coast of Genoa 1854

Curator: Immediately, the sheer drama of the sea grabs you, doesn't it? There's something almost theatrical about those churning waves. Editor: It’s tempestuous! You know, it actually brings to mind struggles against colonialism for self-determination, even though it's "just" a seascape. The might of nature… reminds us of the human scale. Curator: True, true. Well, what we’re looking at is "The Coast of Genoa," an oil on canvas painted in 1854 by Jasper Francis Cropsey. Editor: It has this quality, the dramatic romanticism you expect from the Hudson River School, right? That Hudson River state of mind, displaced onto the Italian coast! Curator: Absolutely. Cropsey travelled extensively, and he brought that distinctly American eye for grandeur with him. Look how the city climbs up the cliffs toward the lighthouse... Editor: And beyond that...are those the Alps in the background? Juxtaposing human civilization with that monumental geological timeframe creates such an interesting dialectic. Is it about permanence versus the ephemeral, maybe? I mean, civilizations rise and fall. Mountains…mostly stay put. Curator: Maybe. I get the sense he was chasing that sense of sublime power... It’s as if he wanted to capture the untamed spirit of this coastal landscape, and place human presence – and vulnerability -- within its grand sweep. He has us contemplating how small we really are. Editor: Right, like we’re grappling with concepts of nationhood and empire here too… considering Cropsey was painting at a moment of fervent American expansion, that almost violent growth... You see this image and you ask who really holds dominion. Is it us, with our quaint structures clinging to the cliffs? Or the uncontainable ocean? Curator: That contrast, the city huddled against that elemental force, that's pure Cropsey. Editor: I wonder what this painting would suggest for postcolonial audiences grappling with uneven power dynamics and climate crises... It strikes me, in that light, as way more pertinent than some pretty view. Curator: I like how we end up connecting the artist's soul-searching with today's challenges. It changes the way I will experience this picture now, definitely. Thanks. Editor: Thank you, art has no end! It continues to reveal something else about ourselves at every turn.