[title not known] Possibly 1843

Editor: This is an untitled landscape etching by John Linnell. It shows people gathered by a lake and I’m struck by how it seems to romanticize rural life. What do you see in this piece? Curator: It’s tempting to see this as a simple pastoral scene. However, considering Linnell's social circle—Blake, radical thinkers—I wonder if this image subtly critiques the enclosures acts. Does this idyllic gathering mask a deeper lament for lost communal lands and traditions? Editor: That's a fascinating point! I hadn't considered the socio-political context. So, this image could be both a celebration and a critique? Curator: Exactly. It invites us to question whose "idyllic" landscape this truly is, and who has access to it. Editor: That's given me a lot to think about. I'll definitely look at Linnell's work differently now. Curator: It is in the friction between what is shown and what is obscured that we find deeper meaning.