Trees and Rocks 

Editor: This is Alexander Cozens' "Trees and Rocks," a drawing from the Tate Collections. It feels like I’m looking at a stage set, all monochrome and dramatic. What's your interpretation? Curator: Consider how landscape art often reflects societal attitudes towards nature and power. Cozens' deliberate, almost theatrical, composition might be seen as a way of framing nature to be dominated or understood. Where does this framing place us, the viewers? Editor: So, it’s not just about pretty scenery? Curator: Not at all. The 'picturesque' aesthetic Cozens represents was deeply entwined with ideas about land ownership, privilege, and the very act of looking as a form of control. What did we learn today? Editor: That landscapes can be political! Curator: Exactly!