Studies of Farm Hands and a Coat on a Fence. Verso: tracing of farm boy from recto 

Editor: This is David Cox's "Studies of Farm Hands and a Coat on a Fence," a watercolor piece. It feels unfinished, like a glimpse into a working day. What strikes you about it? Curator: Cox's work speaks to the changing landscape of labor in the 19th century. Notice how these figures are presented without romanticism, almost as ethnographic studies. Does this reflect a shift in how rural life was being perceived and documented? Editor: That's interesting. So, you're saying it's less about the beauty of farm life and more about recording it? Curator: Precisely. Consider the social context: industrialization was drawing people to cities. Images like these become records, perhaps even artifacts, of a disappearing way of life. Editor: I never thought about it that way. It makes me see the work in a new light, as a kind of historical document. Curator: Indeed. It shows how art can be entangled with broader social shifts, capturing fleeting moments and evolving attitudes.