Surrey Downs 1915

Curator: Surrey Downs by James McBey, created in 1915, showcases a sprawling landscape rendered in ink and etching. There's a remarkable sense of breadth to it. Editor: The immediate impression is quiet solitude. It’s almost ghostly in its pale tones, like a half-remembered dream of open space. The line work is so delicate; it gives the landscape an ethereal feel. Curator: Exactly! And the chosen medium really influences the viewer. The etching process—that act of scratching into a plate—mirrors, I think, the subtle disturbances of human intervention on the land itself. What sort of social and cultural attitudes toward this work emerged? Editor: Landscapes, by the 1900s, were definitely moving toward reflecting contemporary issues beyond pastoral beauty. Think about urbanization, the rise of industrial society. Here, you see a return, but a kind of fragile return, to a rural ideal as the world sped into modern uncertainty and world war. And how do you perceive its social appeal in that same period? Curator: It becomes this yearning, almost desperate grasping at a disappearing way of life. It’s beautiful, certainly, but it is underscored by a profound sense of loss. The fragility you noted is amplified by McBey’s conscious choices— the pale palette and almost frenetic, sketchy lines capturing the sky evoke emotional weather. Editor: The figure of the shepherd feels dwarfed by the landscape, a small guardian within something monumental and indifferent. The flock moving forward in line across the terrain seems more permanent. So, you get the sense of something enduring as compared with something fleeting. Curator: I think McBey captures that human scale within nature beautifully, a reflection perhaps on the role of individuals during that pivotal historical moment of World War I? Editor: It seems appropriate to view it in this sense; its delicacy also shows a strength by capturing a time that cannot ever return. It would be appealing to folks back then who wanted some semblance of serenity in this form. Curator: Yes, that search for peace amidst change continues to speak to us now. It makes you want to seek out your own quiet corner, doesn't it?