[inscriptions not by Turner] c. 1786 - 1800

Editor: So, this intriguing little piece, "[inscriptions not by Turner]," it's undated, by Philip James De Loutherbourg. It looks like a fragment of paper with handwriting on it. It almost feels like a coded message or a shopping list. What do you make of it? Curator: Well, aren't fragments fascinating? Like whispers from the past. This feels like a painter's note, maybe about a bird he's observing. "Wings black, rim yellow and white…" It's so evocative, like a haiku. What a peculiar, almost poetic inventory of colors. I wonder, did he ever paint that bird? Or did the poem outshine the painting? Editor: That's a beautiful idea, the poem outshining the painting. I hadn’t considered that! I’m going to have to look at all sketches as potential poems now. Curator: Indeed. It's a delightful reminder that art exists in the periphery, too. In the notes and scribbles, in the moments before the masterpiece.