Rocks; verso: blank page 1859

Editor: Here we have Benjamin Champney's sketch, "Rocks," from around 1817-1907. It's a simple pencil drawing, but the rocks feel monumental somehow. What do you see in this piece? Curator: This drawing reminds us that even seemingly neutral landscapes are laden with ideological weight. Consider, for instance, the 19th-century fascination with the "sublime" in nature. Who had access to these landscapes? Whose stories were erased in the process of romanticizing the wilderness? Editor: So, it's about questioning the romantic ideal? Curator: Precisely. This sketch, in its apparent simplicity, invites us to reflect on the power dynamics embedded in landscape art, and the selective narratives they often perpetuate. I think about the blank verso... what could that represent? Editor: That's a powerful perspective. It makes me think about whose voices are missing from the picture, literally and figuratively. Curator: Exactly! Art allows us to ask these crucial questions.