Sketchbook c. 19th century

Curator: Sanford Robinson Gifford, an artist of the Hudson River School, created this "Sketchbook," currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It feels... contained. Like a secret garden, carefully kept, just from looking at the cover. Curator: Indeed. Its dimensions are quite modest, roughly 8.3 by 15.7 centimeters. The sketchbook invites a deeper examination of artistic production and the value we place on raw materials. Editor: You know, imagining the texture, the paper's grain—it almost makes me want to fill it with my own dreams, or maybe just sketches of passing clouds. What do you think, it it worth exploring for its creative production? Curator: Precisely. It reveals the labor and artistic intention inherent even in the blank canvas, challenging traditional notions of "high art." Editor: So true. It makes you consider its use, what was put into the paper, and how it can become much more than just a simple tool.