Near Knaresborough 1844

Curator: This is "Near Knaresborough," a watercolor landscape painted by David Cox around 1844. Editor: Mmm, misty and muted. There's a quiet melancholy about it, isn't there? Almost as if the colours themselves are fading. I immediately think of damp wool and hardworking hands that might have lived on this land. Curator: I find that really insightful. Cox, known for his embrace of Romanticism, worked en plein air, which lends a sense of immediacy. Consider how the light interacts with the hillside, a symphony rendered in watercolour. And his rapid, vigorous strokes aimed for capturing a raw impression, of the landscape and light. Editor: Watercolor, you say. It’s easy to overlook the labour in what feels almost casually beautiful. Consider the materials – the paper itself, probably handmade with linen rag at the time and the source and preparation of those earth pigments. Curator: Precisely! It’s almost like the earth is whispering through the painting. I am deeply moved by the delicate dance of light and shadow and this feeling that nature is alive and always changing. This place he painted becomes, not just a location, but also a state of feeling. Don’t you think? Editor: Well, let’s also think about who this was accessible to in 1844. Picturesque landscapes like these romanticized rural life, but for whom? Not the field workers doing back-breaking work in all likelihood. Art isn’t made in a vacuum. Curator: A very important observation and food for thought about the perception and role of art in different contexts and for different audiences. I’m struck now reflecting on what we've been saying by Cox's extraordinary capacity to transmute personal sensation into such powerfully immersive imagery. It reminds you that landscape isn’t only what you see, but also what you feel, what you bring. Editor: I am left thinking about how the industrial revolution was well underway at this time, even affecting handmade production like papermaking, with innovations that impacted cost, production speed, and consistency. Considering these paintings within the socio-economic environment in which they are born creates yet another layer of richness.