Untitled (Industrial Scene) c. 1940s

Curator: This watercolour print, dating from the 1940s, is titled "Untitled (Industrial Scene)," and was created by Dong Kingman. It immediately strikes me with its muted tones and layered imagery. Editor: It evokes a powerful sense of transition. The layered composition—planes above, a ship looming large, and smaller industrial elements—captures an era defined by global conflict, industrial production, and shifts in transportation. What do you think? Curator: Precisely. Consider the societal implications of post-war industrial expansion and its environmental cost, evident in the hazy sky. It serves as both a testament to human innovation and a critical comment on its repercussions. The lack of clearly delineated human presence feels telling, too. Editor: I see how you read those layered tones as being indicative of the environment being damaged by the heavy industry depicted. From a formalist approach, it is fascinating how Kingman plays with perspective, creating an intriguing push and pull with shapes and the picture plane. Curator: Kingman was engaging with the evolving landscape of his time and exploring how industrialisation reshaped communities and geopolitical dynamics. And also issues surrounding labor, migration, and the changing role of cities in a world in flux. Editor: And his use of colour? These aren’t the stark greys one might associate with industry, but softer blues, peaches and greens. They create a muted but ultimately harmonious palette, giving what might be a bleak subject matter a certain, dare I say it, optimism. Curator: An optimism tempered, I think, by a latent acknowledgement of costs that might not have been entirely reckoned with at the time. The environmental, geopolitical, and social ramifications that haunt us still today. Editor: That tension gives the piece so much staying power. As a final thought, seeing that looming ship again is also interesting for its ability to speak of departures, arrivals, the constant ebbs and flows of travel, migration, and globalisation…