Dimensions: support: 227 x 375 mm
Copyright: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: So, this sketch, "Verso: Figure and Waterfall," by Lady Wharncliffe from the early 19th century, is so delicate. It feels almost dreamlike, like a fleeting memory captured in pencil. What do you see in this piece? Curator: It whispers of Romanticism, doesn't it? That yearning for the sublime, the connection between humanity and nature. I see a figure, perhaps a nymph, caught between worlds. Arms outstretched, is she surrendering, or embracing? Editor: I hadn't thought of her as surrendering. More like... welcoming the water? Curator: Or perhaps the waterfall is a metaphor, a cascade of emotions, of life itself. Wharncliffe, I imagine, found solace in these private moments of creation. Editor: It's fascinating to think of the personal stories hidden in these kinds of works. Curator: Exactly! And it makes the artwork resonate, even centuries later. We each bring our own waterfall to it, don't we?