Cows 1865

Editor: We're looking at "Cows," an etching by Charles Jacque, dating back to 1865. I'm struck by its quiet simplicity, a scene of rural life captured with delicate lines. What do you see in this work, something beyond the pastoral idyll? Curator: Ah, yes, quietude and simplicity... but the peace in those clustered marks suggests something more. I feel the heft of those cows, solid forms drinking their fill against the backdrop of ephemeral foliage. And that reclining figure – lost in thought or simply drowsing. It almost begs the question of human-animal symbiosis in simpler times, but is there a looming presence, too? A suggestion perhaps of hard labor or is that my projection, colored by our contemporary concerns? What feeling emanates? Editor: It is peaceful, yes. The busyness of the marks create this static moment in time. Do you see any kind of environmental concerns relating to that relationship between the cows, man, and earth? Curator: It's tempting, isn't it, to read modern anxieties into it. It has no message of industrial menace, just bucolic harmony. Though one could propose that these etchings, available and reproducible, also romanticized the rural lifestyle that became unreachable by those caught in a rising, smokestack-filled city. Look close again: does a sort of manufactured sentiment creep in from the seemingly casual layout of figures in nature, one that actually reflects the tastes of urban patrons? How much is sincere versus skillfully crafted longing? Editor: That’s an interesting thought! Perhaps there’s a layer of artifice beneath the surface of this apparently simple country scene. It's interesting how this image still reverberates. Curator: Exactly! The echoes and multiple realities make viewing such a print compelling. A reminder, perhaps, to question every "simple truth" presented to us.