[title not known] Verso: Sketch 1803 - 1805

Curator: This small sketch, simply titled "Verso: Sketch," comes to us from the hand of Joshua Cristall, an English artist who lived from 1765 to 1847. Editor: It feels like a half-remembered dream. The trees are almost cloud-like, existing between substance and ethereal forms. Curator: Cristall seems to be capturing the essence of the landscape, a memory perhaps, rather than a precise depiction. The very light pencil work lends itself to that. Editor: It really invites you to project your own emotions and stories onto it, to imbue it with your own personal meaning. Like a Rorschach test in tree form. Curator: It's a lovely example of the artist's ability to evoke atmosphere with minimal means. Editor: Exactly. A testament to the power of suggestion, really. Makes you wonder what he was thinking that day.