Trees and Waterfall, a Lion Devouring a Deer 

Curator: Ramsay Richard Reinagle's "Trees and Waterfall, a Lion Devouring a Deer" offers a glimpse into a wild, untamed landscape. The Tate holds this intriguing artwork. What is your immediate take? Editor: The overwhelming sense is brutality within beauty, the delicate rendering of nature juxtaposed with the violence of the lion's kill is striking, perhaps commenting on colonial power dynamics. Curator: Absolutely. The sublime natural world has long been used to justify the appropriation of nature and the other through domination. The depiction of a lion, a symbol of European power, preying on a deer, raises questions about imposed hierarchies. Editor: And Reinagle's choice of monochrome lends a historical distance, making the scene seem both immediate and somehow detached, furthering the power dynamic portrayed. Curator: It invites us to consider the politics embedded within seemingly innocuous landscape painting, and how those politics affect contemporary understanding of power. Editor: This really makes one reflect on the subtle ways that even the most beautiful images carry embedded messages about dominance.