Translating John Crome

The word ‘translation’ is not used lightly here. This is not an anthology of creative pieces by a variety of artists from different media ‘inspired by’ or ‘expressing a kinship with’ Crome’s paintings. These are translations in the sense of transformations into new languages, where the transformations and juxtapositions are designed both to incorporate the perceptual and existential responses of the ‘translator’ to examples of Crome’s work and to project those works into possible cross-medial futures. The book is as much about ‘looking’ across media, as about John Crome.

What kinds of transformation do the landscapes and plant studies of John Crome (1768–1821), once considered the equal of J.M.W. Turner, undergo when translated into other ‘languages’ or media? The twenty contributors to this volume, from fields as diverse as travel-writing, poetry, painting, photography and ceramics, provide a range of answers, and in so doing, uncover new futures for Crome’s work.