Rock in a Landscape; verso: blank page Possibly 1859

Editor: Here we have Benjamin Champney’s "Rock in a Landscape," it's a small pencil sketch. The lone rock seems so monumental against the wispy, undefined background. What do you make of it? Curator: It's a study in contrasts, isn’t it? That solid, almost geometric rock, rendered with such detail, against the fleeting suggestion of the world around it. Makes you wonder what Champney was feeling that day. Was he drawn to the rock’s permanence, its silent strength? Editor: I like that idea. It makes the rock seem less ordinary and more like a symbol. Curator: Perhaps. Or maybe he just thought it was a good rock! Sometimes, a rock is just a rock, beautifully observed. And sometimes art is simply a fleeting glance. Editor: So true. I’m now looking at something solid and temporal.