Dimensions: support: 813 x 1067 mm
Copyright: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: Here we have William Collins's "Sunday Morning." It's an oil on canvas depicting a rural scene, and I'm struck by how it romanticizes country life. What's your take on this piece? Curator: Consider the pigments: were they locally sourced, or imported? The canvas weave itself speaks to industrial processes. This seemingly idyllic scene is constructed through specific means of production and consumption. How does that affect your reading of it? Editor: That's a good point. The materials themselves tell a story about trade and labor. I hadn't considered that! Curator: Exactly. And thinking about the market for such scenes tells us about the consuming class. What was it about depictions of rural life that appealed to urban dwellers? Editor: Thinking about the materials and the audience really changes how I see it. It's less about simple beauty and more about a complex web of social and economic factors. Curator: Precisely! It's a window into the values and material realities of the time.
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Collins achieved great success in his own lifetime for his rural and childhood genre subjects with their vision of pastoral contentment. The family here are preparing to go to church, the spire of which peeps through the trees in the distance. The grey pony waits patiently to take the elderly grandmother down the lane.The traditional occupation of country folk on a Sunday was a theme attempted by several artists before Collins, including David Wilkie. However, Collins is notable for his emphasis on the steadfast uprightness and piety of English rural society; the engraving after the painting, published in 1837, was dedicated 'to all Christians'. Gallery label, September 2004
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