Tree Root (continues on page 36 verso); verso: Tree (continues on page 38 recto) c. 19th century

Curator: Here we have Edward Burne-Jones’s sketch, "Tree Root," part of a continuing study across several pages in his sketchbook. Editor: It feels immediate, almost like a captured breath. You can practically feel the graphite against the paper. Curator: Indeed. Note the use of line and shading; Burne-Jones is interested in the fundamental structure. The composition leads the eye down into an earthy vortex. Editor: And look at the surface, this handmade paper; its texture interacts with the graphite, adding depth. It feels very much of the earth. Was this preparatory for something larger, or simply an exercise? Curator: It's hard to say definitively; however, knowing Burne-Jones's method, this study may have been crucial to a larger allegorical painting. Editor: It reminds me that art isn't always grand pronouncements. Sometimes, it's just about seeing and feeling the humble materials around us. Curator: Precisely, and discerning beauty in the structural components of nature.