Untitled (Landscape With Tree) c. 1895

Harry Spiers made this landscape with tree using lithographic crayon at some point in his career. We are given little information about the date or place in which it was made, but we can make some guesses based on what we know of his career. Spiers was born in 1869 and became head of the lithography department at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, which was part of a larger Arts and Crafts movement. This movement was in part a reaction to industrialization, so it is worth asking what the relationship is between industrialization and this image. The lithographic crayon was itself a product of industry, but the natural scene resists the encroachment of the industrial world. We might ask whether Spiers was making a broader comment on the relationship between humanity and nature. More research into the place and date of this work might help us develop a more thorough interpretation.