Lyrical yet powerful, at times delicate and faint and at others imposing and monumental, Cunningham’s drawings of landscapes and outdoor scenes display not only extreme manual dexterity but also rare observation skills. His rendition of clouds and sun rays is exceptional in its ability to convey specific effects of light and visibility conditions through an impressively restrained use of signs on the paper. Some of the drawings in this series depict the sky, others countryside scenes. Some show motorways and fast-moving cars as seen from a windscreen. Others, more contemplative, include architectonical elements like buildings or bridges. Others still, such as the lively series of beach scenes, include small, darkened human figures populating the landscape. In a small section of these images, the drawings appear sketch-like, framed within small rectangular squares, as if they were painting studies. Despite the roughness of these images, however, the artist managed to maintain an element of emotive communication that justifies their inclusion into his landscape series.

Traditionally, landscape art tends to include natural elements arranged in a coherent composition. Initially confined to the background of paintings concerned with the representation of portraits of eminent people or historical scenes, landscapes began to dominate the world of artistic production in the 17th century: since then, this genre has appeared in all kinds of artistic productions. This shift is telling of a development in the way the world itself is conceptualised. Especially after the Romantic experiments of the 19th century, nature came to be appreciated as its own entity, assuming a spiritual or transcendent meaning. There is a similar quality of transcendence and soulfulness in Cunningham’s landscape drawings. The sparse quantity of natural details, the absence of meticulously depicted environmental elements or geographical clues all contribute to their meditative and quiet appearance.

It is very likely that a number of these drawings were inspired by real life events. In the images that represent beach scenes, for instance, Cunningham notes ‘Southampton’ on the back, perhaps in reference to a holiday. Other images, bearing time stamps on their backs, were probably drawn from real life, possibly in order to record a particular light effect. This is not to say, however, that these drawings are entirely realistic. Landscapes could be copied from reality with different degrees of accuracy, or with added imaginary elements coming directly from the artist’s mind. Nevertheless, they all constitute an exploration of how Cunningham related to the places he lived in or visited, and, as a whole, embody a kind of visual archive of the impact those places had on him.

Just like the landscape painters of the 18th and 19th century, Cunningham employed the genre of landscape not only to replicate the beauty of nature or to record a personal experience, but also to explore and study aesthetic elements such as light and three-dimensional space. Especially in the drawings of the sky and in urban scenes, he skilfully generated incredibly varied compositions by imitating, through simple pen or pencil strokes, a wide assortment of textures and recessive planes.