Britse militair 1875 - 1925

Curator: Right, let’s delve into this characterful artwork, “Britse militair,” dating from 1875 to 1925, by Richard Simkin. It seems to be a drawing done in pen and pencil. Editor: Oh, there's something immediately striking about this piece! It's almost a cartoon, with that oversized moustache and intense forward momentum, a strange blend of seriousness and the ridiculous. Curator: Indeed. Simkin was quite known for this blending. Focusing on process, we see a lithographic technique employing a graphic approach, emphasizing mass consumption prints rather than, say, individualized paintings that spoke to notions of genius and romanticism. Editor: I love that idea of mass consumption meeting romanticism in the sweep of the horse, or even just the confident tilt of that fur cap. It's as if he's selling an idea of heroism, and almost winking at us while he does it. What does the detail around the horse convey to you? Curator: Well, the saddle cloth clearly marks status with bold initials and the crowns, likely created using stencils, enabling efficient reproduction and wider availability. The drawing had a social purpose, to create imagery that was at once desirable and reflected hierarchical power relations of that time. It served to solidify social values through its proliferation in a market economy. Editor: Yes, a piece that walks that strange tightrope of wanting to represent reality but ending up somewhere almost otherworldly because of its intense symbolism. It certainly doesn't shy away from communicating grandeur, even a touch of self-importance, which might come across as almost funny to the modern eye. What's interesting is thinking how something reproduced *en masse* can still feel so singular in its oddness. Curator: Quite. It also calls into question our own contemporary visual media and modes of social manipulation today, and our consumption of imagery depicting systems of power and the individual’s relation to them. Editor: And that brings us full circle. Looking at this today, I'm struck by how it becomes this strange mirror reflecting our own mediated realities, and this figure remains galloping ever forward, sword at the ready, forever on the brink.