Cow n.d.

Thomas Girtin’s “Cow” is a drawing, likely made in England in the late 1700s or early 1800s, using graphite on paper. The material is humble, yet that is precisely the point. At this time, Britain was becoming a modern industrial power, with all the social disruption that implied. Girtin has turned away from that reality, toward an older and more sustainable way of life. The drawing shows a placid animal, close to the earth, rendered with a soft, unassuming touch. It is not high-flown history painting, meant to inspire or instruct the viewer. Nor is it an exercise in pure abstraction. Instead, the drawing gives us a quiet moment of attention, focused on a basic fact of rural existence. The artist’s labor here is minimal, but it reminds us of all the other labor connected to this cow: the farmer who cares for it, the dairymaid who milks it, and more.