Rocks and Shrubs 

Edwin Austin Abbey created this watercolor painting, Rocks and Shrubs, sometime before 1911. Abbey, who was born in Philadelphia, spent a good portion of his career in England, illustrating the works of Shakespeare, Goldsmith, and others. Here, the watercolor medium captures a certain immediacy and informality that is in contrast to the formal demands of illustration. Look at the way he renders the titular rocks: they're soft, nearly pillow-like, and the colors are muted. The shrubs in the background give the rocks context but also create an environment that is at once familiar and indistinct. Abbey’s choice of such a commonplace scene has a distinct, almost subversive feeling. It's a perspective that suggests a radical intimacy with the landscape. In its apparent simplicity, Abbey invites us to consider the often-unnoticed beauty that surrounds us.