Two Panels (Joined) 1799

Curator: What strikes me is how this textile feels…alive. All these branching, bursting botanicals – almost overwhelming. Editor: Let's consider this pair of textile panels titled "Two Panels (Joined)" made around 1799 by Hartmann et Fils. It’s currently residing at The Art Institute of Chicago. It's incredible when you start considering all that went into textile production at the time, the various types of labor, the importation of cotton… Curator: See, I immediately drift towards envisioning this as a gorgeous, slightly decaying wallpaper in a dimly lit boudoir, a Bronte sister scribbling away at a gothic novel under the glow of candlelight! It pulls me into its atmosphere rather than making me consider labor practices. Editor: But isn't the allure somewhat fabricated? The intricate floral designs, romantic as they seem, were likely the result of intense labor, particularly if block-printed. Were it from India for instance, imagine the trade routes, the colonialism embedded in something so seemingly benign. And in 1799 Europe, early industrialization had already been introducing labor injustices. Curator: Point taken. There’s that tension between the surface beauty and the deeper story of making, of course. Still, I find myself drawn to its artistic impact, to the play of light and dark across the surface, like sun dappling through a dense garden. How the reds bloom and resonate! Editor: Yes, and technically, weaving these designs would require skill and precision, knowledge passed down, perhaps even a weaving guild at play, or domestic out-work. Plus, think of the chemicals required for dyes. Curator: That pulls me back down to earth, the materiality and origins are integral…Still, that original sense of the romantic—a tiny sliver of escapism—is hard to shake off when confronted with these floral blooms frozen in time! Editor: Perhaps that friction—between fantasy and the reality of production—is exactly where its power lies. The romance seduces, and the history educates, if we care to look deeper. Curator: Agreed! So, on we wander, minds expanded and boudoirs only slightly less dreamy, perhaps.