Woodland Landscape near Norwich 1812

John Crome painted this intimate oil sketch of a "Woodland Landscape near Norwich." Crome, who rarely left his native East Anglia, focused on the ordinary and unspectacular. His work emerged at a time when landscape painting was closely tied to national identity. Unlike other painters, Crome was less concerned with the picturesque or sublime. Instead, he captured the familiar, working class spaces of the English countryside. This focus was partly influenced by economic factors, as the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) made travel to Europe difficult for British artists. But, it also represents his commitment to representing the lives of the local population. Crome’s sensitivity towards the common, local environment encourages us to see the beauty in the everyday. His work serves as a reminder of the importance of local environments and the lives of those who inhabit them, especially in periods of conflict and rapid change.