Thebes 1884 - 1885

Editor: So, we're looking at "Thebes," a drawing by Edward Lear made around 1884-1885, using ink and pencil on paper. I’m really struck by the sort of washed-out feel, and the subject matter...it almost feels like a quick study. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see the confluence of labor and leisure shaping the aesthetic. Consider the source of the materials. Paper production itself involved specific labor practices. Then Lear, a product of his class, transforms these materials to depict a site laden with colonial connotations. Editor: Colonial connotations? Curator: Absolutely. Egypt, by the late 19th century, was increasingly a site of European interest and control. Lear's picturesque rendering, while seemingly innocuous, participated in framing the landscape for Western consumption. Editor: That’s interesting. I was just thinking about the palm trees and wondering if they grew there, and how much the environment might have been shaped to be seen a certain way. Curator: Precisely! And note the swift, economical lines. Lear's technique emphasizes efficiency, perhaps reflecting the burgeoning industrialization and the pressure to produce quickly for a demanding market. He's almost mass-producing a vision of exoticism. How do the human and animal figures play into this, in your opinion? Editor: They seem to belong to the landscape rather than interacting with it; just further figures contributing to the composition rather than being central to the art. I had seen them more like landscape details and not figures shaping the landscape and their society. I see how it all goes together now! Curator: Exactly. The artwork itself becomes a commodity, packaged for an audience hungry for accessible images of distant lands. Looking at the materials and techniques can lead to looking at broader material and labor relations in play. Editor: That definitely provides a richer understanding than if I’d just thought about the drawing itself as a pretty picture. Thanks!