Gezicht op een kanaal in de omgeving van de stad Haarlem bij maanlicht 1753 - 1797

Editor: This is "View of a Canal near Haarlem by Moonlight," dating from sometime between 1753 and 1797, created by Pierre François Basan. It's watercolor and colored pencil on paper, and it feels so…tranquil. How should we interpret this depiction of a simple canal? Curator: Tranquility, perhaps, but consider the means by which that mood is conveyed. Note the careful layering of watercolor to achieve the luminosity of the moonlight, a fairly new pigment technology at the time becoming increasingly available. How does this new accessibility shape art production and influence the kind of subject matter that's appealing? Editor: So you're saying it's not just the pretty picture but how technological advancements democratized the process of creating images? How does this change our understanding of landscape art during this period? Curator: Precisely. The expansion of watercolor production fueled amateur artmaking and thus popularized genres like landscape, making art and nature into a leisurely commodity. Think about the labor involved – mining pigments, manufacturing brushes, and even the availability of leisure time to produce these images. Who has access to these means of production, and who is excluded? How do class structures dictate access to this type of creativity? Editor: That makes me think about the role of the artist then, from a skilled craftsman to... more of a consumer maybe? And I hadn't considered how economic systems dictate even the types of art that were made. Curator: Exactly. Considering artistic creation in this period also means interrogating colonialism and trade; where are the raw materials coming from to make these landscape paints so accessible? It makes you wonder how our current modes of production shape our consumption and tastes now. Editor: It gives this picturesque scene a new dimension! Thanks, I’ll definitely keep materiality and its wider context in mind from now on. Curator: Glad to have offered a different perspective. The more we look the more we can find beyond first appearances!