Two Figures on a Country Road 

John Varley made this small graphite sketch called "Two Figures on a Country Road". During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, England saw a surge in landscape art amid industrial and agricultural revolutions. Varley, who came from a modest background, captured intimate scenes of rural life, reflecting a yearning for simpler times. These were rapidly disappearing as society changed. The figures here, perhaps a parent and child, are dwarfed by their surroundings. It’s a reminder of humanity’s connection to the land, a connection that was being reshaped by industrialization. While landscape art was accessible, the lives of rural working families were often hard. Varley's sketch hints at their everyday lives, inviting us to consider the stories of those whose labor shaped the land. His work speaks to the complex interplay between romanticizing nature and the realities of rural existence.