On a Sussex Farm 1904

James Charles made "On a Sussex Farm" with what looks like a real scrummy mixture of paint. There’s a real sense of looking at artmaking as a process here. I’m immediately drawn to the surface texture and the way the paint has been applied; it's almost crusty in places, like it's been built up over time. You can tell he’s used thick, opaque layers, particularly in the sky, where the clouds have this wonderful sense of weight and density. Then, in the foreground, the application of paint seems more hurried and loose to me. Take the reclining cow in the bottom right, for instance. The marks are so gestural, almost abstract, but they coalesce into something that feels very real and present. You might see how this connects to artists like Courbet who also sought to represent everyday life with such vibrancy, but for me, Charles’ work has an earthy, grounded quality that is entirely his own. It’s a painting that embraces the messiness and ambiguity of life.