The qualities of "Memory" by Elihu Vedder (a 16"X23" print on canvas) instead harkens back to an earlier era of decadent and symbolist illusions, and show a more a playful spirit of humanity"s relationship to art, rather than the greater seriousness of intent in Hogue and Steichen. Vedder"s work was first executed in 1860 when the Italian artist, Nino Costa introduced Vedder to the seascape of the Tyrrenian coast. These studies would eventually culminate in the work known as "Memory." "Memory" was formerly completed in 1870, although the artist also foreshadowed it in a number of earlier studies. "Memory" strikes the viewer of today as a kind of artist"s Romantic fantasy of Italy"s coastline, rather than a realistic reproduction of either a face or a place. ("Elihu Vedder," The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2005).

             Vedder today is best known for his fantastical illustrations of the "Rubiayat" of Omar Khan, translated by Edward Fitzgerald, and other exotic renditions of the fantastic, Romantic far off places with no real existence. He was obsessed the suggestion of the persistence of personal memory, in this case of a person from the past in nature, and of nature"s ability to suggest something to humanity. Rather than 'real" nature, however, the human imagination was of primary interest to Vedder as an artist-nature was interesting because it 'spoke" to humanity; nature was not interesting in and of itself. ("Elihu Vedder," The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2005).

             In contrast, Hogue"s "Erosions No. 2: Mother Earth Laid Bare" comes from the hand of a Western, American artist who was quite familiar with his world from a realistic as well as a tourist"s perspective. Vedder died in Italy, but the Italian landscape he brought to life, and created via his artistic fantasy world seems more of an outsider"s than an insider"s eye, unlike Hogue, who was attempting to express something about the way the lands were being treated by the people around him through his use of surrealism.