Above the Mountains, Switzerland 1908

Curator: Immediately, I’m struck by a sense of impending weather, or perhaps even an internal tempest, a psychological drama played out across the Swiss Alps. Editor: Indeed. What we're seeing here is Donald Shaw MacLaughlan's "Above the Mountains, Switzerland," an etching printed on paper in 1908. The location—now part of the collection at The Art Institute of Chicago—speaks volumes about the landscape tradition and its romantic undertones. Curator: Romantic, yes, but it also feels deliberately untamed. Those clouds! They aren’t picturesque fluff; they’re weighty, pregnant with emotion and perhaps… unrest. The lines seem scratchy and immediate, so the composition appears incredibly dynamic. I'd like to suggest this could allude to larger shifts within European social consciousness as the continent marched headlong into world war. Editor: That’s a fascinating take. Personally, the overall impression is far from somber for me. It’s almost playful. The varying density of the line work brings out depth and almost cartoon-like volume in those clouds. There's also something whimsical about the almost radiating light. Curator: Perhaps. However, given the rise of Expressionism and broader cultural anxieties around industrialization, might we consider this 'playfulness' as a form of nervous energy? Editor: It is worth mentioning that this etching method lends itself to direct expressiveness, where line becomes gesture. It makes me think about the materiality and immediacy of mark-making. Curator: An excellent point. The texture almost suggests resistance; as if the landscape is pushing back against some unseen force. Editor: For me, it’s that stark contrast – the delicate etching of the clouds against the bolder strokes depicting the landscape. It creates a conversation, a dialogue between the tangible and the ephemeral, which has something comforting for me as well. Curator: I like that very much. That notion of tangible meeting ephemeral resonates far beyond this small scene. Thank you for expanding my perspective. Editor: Thank YOU. It's refreshing to explore these layers through different lenses. There is something so incredibly evocative about art.