A House, Fence and Cliff at Undercliff, Isle of Wight 

Editor: Here we have Edward Dayes' watercolor, "A House, Fence and Cliff at Undercliff, Isle of Wight." It feels so quiet, almost desolate. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a subtle critique of enclosure and access. The fence, a symbol of property, cuts us off from the romanticized natural landscape. Who is kept in, who is kept out, and at what cost? Editor: That's interesting. I hadn't considered the fence as a barrier. I was just thinking of it as part of the scenery. Curator: Dayes created this around the time of the Enclosure Acts. How might this image reflect anxieties around land ownership and the changing relationship between people and the environment? Editor: Wow, I’ll definitely be looking at landscape art differently now. It’s never just about pretty scenery, is it? Curator: Exactly. Art is always in conversation with its time.