A Church (Possibly at Wrexham) 

Editor: Here we have David Cox's "A Church (Possibly at Wrexham)," made with watercolor. I'm struck by its somewhat muted palette and the overall hazy effect. How would you approach interpreting this work? Curator: The use of watercolor, a relatively inexpensive and portable medium, immediately signals its accessibility within 19th-century artistic practice. Notice how Cox hasn’t built up layers for density. He leaves much of the paper exposed, allowing for light to be reflected and to act as a primary material. Why do you think he chose watercolor over, say, oil paints, for depicting what seems to be a specific place? Editor: Perhaps because watercolor allowed him to capture the immediacy of a location on-site, reflecting the burgeoning plein-air painting practices of the time? Was the availability and cost of art supplies influencing what subjects artists chose? Curator: Absolutely. Cox's choice is practical and tied to a growing interest in directly engaging with the landscape and architecture within. The accessibility of materials enabled artists to work with relative speed, document their surrounding world and make art in a range of social circumstances. How does that knowledge change your understanding of the piece? Editor: It helps me think about how his economic access and the available art supplies directly impacted the work's final appearance, and his aesthetic choices! I initially viewed it only as a depiction of a place, but there's a whole system of making that I completely missed. Curator: Precisely. And this is only one aspect of material analysis; considering issues around labour would provide another enriching viewpoint. Editor: Thank you, I'll look at artmaking with new eyes!