Plate - "Boston State House" c. 1936

This plate, depicting the Boston State House, was crafted by Helmut Hiatt. The monochrome image is neatly organized with two primary visual fields: the circular frame, densely packed with floral patterns, and the central scene, rendered with remarkable detail. Note how Hiatt sets up a dialogue between the natural and the constructed. The floral border evokes organic growth, while the meticulously drawn State House represents civic order. The animals in the center are presented in a romantic landscape, challenging fixed meanings about urban space. This tension may be read through a structuralist lens, inviting us to consider how Hiatt uses familiar motifs to subtly question fixed ideas of progress and development. While the State House symbolizes progress, the pastoral scene questions the values we place on nature and the imposition of civic structures. It is in this play of formal qualities that Hiatt challenges our understanding of what is progress.