Sailing in the sea 1884

Editor: This is "Sailing in the Sea," painted by Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky in 1884, using oil paints. It's quite a dramatic scene, the way the waves crash around the ship makes it feel precarious. What do you see when you look at it? Curator: I see a work deeply invested in the industrial process. Consider the canvas itself, woven, stretched, primed—a product of labor. The oil paints, too, manufactured and transported, representative of resource extraction and trade. What was the labor like of sailors on such a ship, of the factory workers producing sails and ship materials? Editor: That’s an interesting angle, focusing on the materials. I was thinking more about the ship as a symbol of… I don't know, man versus nature. Curator: But doesn’t the ship *mediate* that relationship? It is constructed; made by humans *from* nature, through very specific, historically situated industrial and craft processes. How do the rough seas *intersect* with the rough labour? Editor: I never thought of it that way, thinking about all of the materials and labor involved instead of the kind of romantic idea of being out at sea. Curator: Think about the pigments: where did Aivazovsky source his blues and whites? What were the working conditions of the miners or the merchants involved? Even the 'romantic' notion of the sea is *packaged* and sold, not just in art, but also in nautical industries! This Romanticism is *sustained* materially. Editor: So you're saying even the idea of romanticism has roots in the real, material conditions of the time? That's a much more grounded approach than I'm used to. Thanks for opening my eyes to it. Curator: Exactly. Focusing on the means of production provides a potent critical lens, allowing us to understand how materials shape not only the artwork but also our understanding of the world.