In Buckinghamshire c. 1890

Editor: This is Paul Maitland's "In Buckinghamshire," a small oil on panel landscape. I’m immediately struck by how the thick paint seems to almost physically capture the rolling hills. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a direct engagement with the land and its production. Consider the materiality: oil paint, a product of industrial processes, used to depict a rural scene. How does that tension between the means of representation and the subject matter inform our understanding of labour and landscape? Editor: So, it's not just a pretty picture, but about how we *make* pretty pictures of the land? Curator: Precisely. Maitland is engaging with the industrialization of even rural scenes. The brushstrokes themselves become a form of labour, reflecting the human impact on the environment. Editor: That gives me a lot to think about; the painting's surface really speaks to the connection between industry and land. Curator: Indeed. It highlights the complexities of our relationship with nature and the tools we use to represent it.