Fotoreproductie van een schilderij van boeren op weg naar het land, door David Cox before 1873

This photographic reproduction captures a painting of farmers on their way to work, and was made by Robert W. Thrupp. The image gives us insight into the Victorian era’s complex relationship to rural life and labor. Painted originally by David Cox, the scene likely romanticizes the agrarian lifestyle, a common theme as industrialization rapidly transformed British society. This photo reproduction, made some time later, speaks to the institutionalization of art through reproduction, making it accessible to wider audiences, yet also altering its aura. Consider that the original painting may have been displayed in an exhibition, judged by its aesthetic qualities, and bought and sold. This photo, now in a book, becomes a different kind of object, one that is meant to be studied and consumed privately. To understand the image's meaning more fully, one could investigate the popular taste for landscape painting during this time and the social and economic conditions of rural workers.