Landscape with Flock of Sheep 

Editor: Here we have David Cox’s “Landscape with Flock of Sheep,” a watercolor wash. The brown monochrome gives it a rather somber feel, don't you think? What can you tell me about its historical context? Curator: It's interesting to consider Cox's landscapes within the broader context of industrialization. How do you think paintings like this, showing rural life, functioned for an increasingly urban audience? Did it offer escapism, or perhaps reinforce certain ideologies about the countryside? Editor: Possibly both? It's easy to see how a London factory worker might romanticize this pastoral scene. I guess I hadn't considered its socio-political role. Curator: Exactly. It’s vital to question whose stories these landscapes tell and whose they omit. That's where the real value lies.