Shinnecock Hills (A View of Shinnecock) 1891

Curator: William Merritt Chase's 1891 painting, "Shinnecock Hills (A View of Shinnecock)," captures a landscape in oil paint. It seems to reflect the late 19th century's fascination with en plein air painting. What strikes you upon seeing this? Editor: Well, the immediate impact is its tranquility. There is a palpable sense of calm in this vast, yet subtle vista. The muted tones—grays and greens—evoke a quiet stillness, like the world holding its breath. Curator: I find that interesting, given the history of the Shinnecock Hills. They are more than just a pretty vista. This landscape holds cultural weight, tied to the Shinnecock Nation. Editor: True. This area's displacement of the Shinnecock people echoes loudly, which contrasts strikingly with Chase’s gentle rendition. How do you interpret the light, almost washed-out sky, within this context? Curator: The diffused light, for me, serves as a symbol of erasure, perhaps unconsciously reflecting the fading visibility of the indigenous presence in the landscape during this period. Impressionism often focused on immediate sensation, but that also risks obscuring deeper histories. Editor: It's easy to get caught up in the surface beauty, the brushstrokes, the composition. But art never exists in a vacuum, does it? Considering the period, and the context of the land, even a seemingly neutral landscape painting can become a political statement – or, perhaps, an act of unintentional forgetting. Curator: Exactly. It begs the question: what are we *not* seeing here? What stories are submerged beneath the surface of this idyllic view? The role of art, even landscapes, in shaping and sometimes obscuring cultural memory, is critical. Editor: Thinking about it that way truly reshapes the painting's symbolism. It transitions from a merely serene scene into an allegory of cultural presence and absence, of visibility and erasure, which gives it an incredible amount of depth. I certainly won't look at impressionist landscapes the same way again. Curator: Hopefully, that's a step towards a more nuanced appreciation for landscapes of that time. Perhaps seeing more than just the view is precisely what art asks us to do.