Dolgelley 1802

Curator: Rev C J R Berkeley's "Dolgelley" presents us with a moody landscape rendered in watercolor, a quiet piece in the Tate collection. What strikes you initially? Editor: A muted palette, almost melancholic. The sky presses down—it feels very much like the sublime's weight. Curator: The artist really captures that almost oppressive grandeur, doesn't he? Note how the layers of mountains fade into the distance. Editor: It also brings to mind ideas of Romantic nationalism, this quest for uniquely British landscapes during a period of intense imperial activity. Who had access to scenes like this? Who was excluded? Curator: It's a valid point. While the scene is ostensibly 'natural,' the act of depicting it, framing it, is never neutral. Editor: Exactly. Context is everything, even when the painting whispers rather than shouts. Curator: Indeed, and Berkeley certainly gives us a lot to contemplate even in this quiet vista. Editor: A landscape infused with more complex histories than first meets the eye.