Currarie Glen, near Ballantrae, South Ayrshire 1872

Joseph Farquharson captured the landscape of Currarie Glen in South Ayrshire with oil on canvas, amidst a period of significant social and economic changes in Scotland. Farquharson, positioned as a landscape painter, offers a view of the Scottish countryside that seemingly upholds traditional representations of pastoral life. Look closely, though, and consider the identities shaped by this environment: the shepherd, the crofters, and the landowners whose lives are intertwined with the land’s resources. The painting subtly reflects a complex interplay of labor, ownership, and belonging. The lone figure in the glen, perhaps a shepherd, evokes a sense of solitude. It invites reflection on the emotional and physical labor that defines rural existence. Farquharson captures a moment that is both serene and suggestive of the deeper, often unseen, connections to the land. It asks us to consider whose stories are told and whose remain in the shadows.