The rectangular cows of Art UK

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2024-11-21 13:30:17

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Lincoln Red Cow 1910

Cow in a Field c.1980

Spending time among the thousands of paintings on Art UK often throws up questions. What is a sun fish? Why is there a painting of the Queen with Robert Burns? What makes this tie hot?

For a while, I’ve been wondering about a mystery I shall call ‘the rectangular cows of Art UK’. Some time ago, I came across dozens of very similar paintings, showing a cow standing by itself in a field, side-on (or ‘landscape’, if you will). And the cow, in many cases, would be almost perfectly rectangular.

A Shorthorn Cow c.1855 Henry Stafford (1830–1873) Towneley Hall Art Gallery & Museum