Copies of San rock paintings depicting creatures Possibly 1777

Editor: This drawing, "Copies of San rock paintings depicting creatures", possibly from 1777, is by Robert Jacob Gordon. It’s created using colored pencil and watercolor on paper. The animals have a beautiful simple quality to them that is rather evocative of cave paintings...What strikes you most when you look at this piece? Curator: For me, it’s the act of copying itself. Gordon wasn't just recording what he saw in the landscape; he was engaging with a pre-existing artistic language. There's a shadow of connection with the ancient artists who first depicted these creatures on rock walls. You sense he felt kinship. Do you get that too? It's almost as if he wanted to converse with them, across time. Editor: Definitely! I love that idea. The slightly stiff, formal quality of the renderings mixed with the vivid colors make it feel very personal. Almost like a travel diary entry rather than a scientific study. Curator: Precisely! He lets us glimpse not only what the San artists created, but also how he interpreted it. It's a reminder that observation is always filtered through our own understanding. And that perhaps the impulse to create is timeless. Do you think we are so different than them? Editor: That's a very powerful message, that art-making itself transcends time and culture. Curator: Exactly. I wonder what they would have thought, knowing someone would still look and think and write about them, over two centuries later. Editor: Absolutely. This has made me think differently about documentation, interpretation, and art. It's beautiful!