The Course c. 1789

Curator: I'm struck by the flat, almost illustrative quality of this work. Editor: Agreed, and that serves Rowlandson’s caricatural approach quite well. Let me introduce Thomas Rowlandson's "The Course," circa 1789, made with a combination of etching and gouache. This artwork encapsulates a horse racing scene brimming with energy. Curator: The color palette feels restrained—pastel shades, mostly. Is this typical for gouache works of the time? It speaks to how materials impact overall tone. Editor: The seemingly straightforward depiction actually belies the deep class anxieties simmering in late 18th-century Britain. The wealthy flaunt their leisure, indulging in displays of power through equestrian sport while the working class enabled them to do so. Curator: Notice the different labor investments across the depicted figures, for example: finely tailored clothing versus practical working garments. These choices reflect the economic stratification, the textile and sartorial materiality acting as clear class signifiers. Editor: Precisely. The "Romantic" label attributed seems to sanitize a quite material reality rooted in labor and privilege. There’s commentary here: what are we to make of the fallen rider at the lower right, so far removed from the pomp of the others? Curator: Yes! The image becomes about the materials *around* the spectacle. I also read "Romantic" loosely, considering the printmaking techniques. Editor: Rowlandson gives us the surface pleasure of landscape and equine subject matter but then adds this undercurrent of moral and social reckoning through caricature. Curator: Ultimately it feels less a romantic celebration, and more of documentation of work and materials intersecting social dynamics. Editor: So Rowlandson provides an insightful and multifaceted lens for viewing that era, prompting us to look beyond romantic notions of the period. Curator: Indeed, by looking at this image we reconsider the relationship between social status and artistic intention.