Sleeping Cow; verso: Tree Trunk? c. 1845 - 1847

Editor: Here we have Sanford Robinson Gifford's "Sleeping Cow; verso: Tree Trunk?". It's a petite sketch. There's a quiet stillness to it, like catching a secret moment. What do you make of it? Curator: It's so intimate, isn't it? Like peeking into the artist's private visual diary. I see Gifford practicing capturing light and form in these humble subjects. Maybe he was thinking about how fleeting beauty is, how even cows deserve our attention. Do you feel a connection to that? Editor: Absolutely, it's that sense of transience. It almost feels like a haiku in visual form. Curator: Precisely! A quiet observation, a breath held, and then released. Editor: Well, now I'll think of Gifford as a visual poet! Curator: Indeed, every sketch can be a verse.