Landscape Painting

Asian Landscape Painting According to Stokstad, Asian's landscape paintings were based on freedom, peace, and simplicity—one the desire to become one with nature. Landscape paintings are imbued with philosophical and moral and symbolic connotations. According to Charles Moffat from his article Chinese Landscape Painting, many critics consider landscape to be the highest form of Chinese painting. The time from the Five Dynasties period to the Northern Song period ( ) is known as the "Great Age of Chinese Landscape.” In the north, artists such as Jing Hao, Fan Kuan, and Guo Xi painted pictures of towering mountains, using strong black lines, ink wash, and sharp, dotted brush strokes to suggest rough stone. In the south, Dong Yuan, Ju Ran, and other artists painted the rolling hills and rivers of their native countryside in peaceful scenes done with softer, rubbed brushwork. These two kinds of scenes and techniques became the classical styles of Chinese landscape painting. Japanese landscape was inspired by Chinese depictions: landscape is referred to as 'Sansui' in Japan. San means 'mountain' and Sui means 'water' and therefore a majority of Japanese landscape paintings depict mountains and flowing water. Occasionally, sun or moon is also included to represent the 'natural truths' underlying each scenery.

Travelers among Mountains and Streams Fan Kuan Northern Song Dynasty, early 11th century CE hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk

Zhao Mengfu section of Autumn Colors on the Qiao and Hua Mountains Yuan dynasty, 1296 handscroll, ink and color on paper

Poet on a Mountaintop Shen Zhou Ming dynasty, c.1500 leaf from an album

A Thousand Peaks and Myriad Ravines Wang Hui Qing dynasty, 1693 hanging scroll, ink on paper

Landscape Shitao Qing dynasty c leaf from an album of landscapes ink and color on paper

Northern Renaissance Perhaps the most innovative feature of Northern Renaissance landscape painting in the 1400s and 1500s was the conception of landscape as a vast terrain with deeply receding space. Artists began to depict the distant horizon and capture the palpable atmosphere that lies between the viewer and the far distance. A major new feature in landscape painting of the 1500s was the bird's-eye view, a vantage point for showing the earth from the clouds. The study of perspective gave rise to a careful rendering of scenery according to conventional formulas.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder Gloomy Day (February) 1565

Pieter Bruegel the Elder Magpie on the Gallow 1568

Pieter Bruegel the Elder Winter Landscape with Skaters and a Birdtrap 1565

Barbizon School of French landscape painting The group of men was led by Theodore Rousseau, as well other artists such as Jean-Francois Millet and Camille Corot. They rejected the classical landscape style and insisted upon direct study from nature. The school rejected the Academic tradition and theory in hopes of making a more accurate representation of the countryside. They were devoted to depicting the working class in their paintings, showing the lives of farmers, gravediggers, woodsmen, poachers, and other workers.

Jean-François Millet Haystacks: Autumn c. 1874

Théodore Rousseau Landscape with a Plowman

John Constable The Lock 1824

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot Ville d'Avray 1867

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot The Bridge at Mantes

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot Mill at Saint-Nicolas-les-Arras 1874

Romanticism Romantic landscape painting is dramatic the content emphasizes turbulent or fantastic natural scenery disasters the sublime (something that inspires awe) naturalistic the content represents tranquil nature the content signals a religious reverence toward nature Romantic painting is characterized by fluid, loose brushwork strong colors complex compositions powerful contrasts of light and dark expressive poses and gestures

Caspar David Friedrich Monk by the Sea 1809 oil on canvas connect to Fan Kuan’s Travelers Among Mountains and Streams 11th century

Joseph Mallord William Turner Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps 1812 oil on canvas

Naturalism Naturalism is a style that records the visible world as accurately as possible. Naturalism is characterized by close attention to detail and a precise depiction of nature that is reached by sketching on the site. Look for closely observed images of tranquil nature. Naturalist artists want to evoke feelings of nationalistic pride and they want to record the beauty of nature and its wilderness. Contain spiritual, moral,historical, and philosophical issues. Naturalists like Bierstadt record Native American life.

Naturalism Naturalism in landscape paintings became popular in the late eighteenth/early nineteenth century in the United States. Expressed the idea of Manifest Destiny and westward expansion. Artist were interested in recording exactly what they saw. Naturalism in the United States focused on what made America unique geographically and on its civilization growth. Some paintings served as an escape from the reality that isn’t shown in the painting (that’s why it’s important to consider what’s happening historically at the time).

Thomas Cole The Oxbow (The Connecticut River near Northampton) 1836 Ask yourself this question: at this moment in the United States, is “wilderness” considered a positive or negative space?

Frederic Edwin Church Twilight in the Wilderness 1860

Frederic Edwin Church Niagara Falls 1857

Albert Bierstadt Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California 1868

The impressionist style of painting is characterized chiefly by concentration on the general impression produced by a scene or object and the use of unmixed primary colors and small strokes to simulate actual reflected light. Impressionism emphasized the conveyance of an overall impression of a particular scene, usually outdoors, using primary colors and short brushstrokes to represent the appearance of reflected light. The desired result of impressionism was to capture the artist's perception of the subject rather than the subject itself. Artists of this movement desired to portray images as though someone might see something if they just caught a glimpse of it. Impressionist Landscapes

Claude Monet Houses of Parliament 1900

Claude Monet Impression: Sunrise 1873

Claude Monet The Magpie 1869

Claude Monet Wheatstacks 1891

Claude Monet Wheatstacks, Snow Effect, Morning 1891

Camille Pissaro Road of Louveciennes 1872

Gustave Caillebotte The Garden at Petit Gennevilliers in Winter 1894

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Banks of the Seine at Asnieres 1879

Post-Impressionist Landscapes Paul Cezanne Cezanne depicted Mont Sainte-Victoire about thirty times before his death. He used this mountain near his home in Aix as the occasion for exploring his ideas about representation. Unlike the Impressionists, Cezanne’s primary focus is not depicting a particular moment of light; instead he is creating an image that has a durable timelessness to it. Notice the broken brushwork; he seems to create the image through deliberate hatchings that simultaneously create both depth and surface design. There is a definitive foreground, middle-ground and background, yet at the same time the entire surface of the painting flattens so that the viewer traces the blocks of color that pattern the surface.

Paul Cezanne The Bridge at Maincy 1879

Paul Cezanne Mont Sainte-Victoire

Andre Derain Mountains at Collioure 1905

Gustave Klimt Apple Tree 1912

Vasily Kandinsky Landscape with Factory Chimney 1910

Vasily Kandinsky Composition VII 1913

Helen Frankenthaler Mountains and Sea 1952

Helen Frankenthaler Viewpoint II 1979

Mark Rothko Orange and Yellow 1956

Anselm Kiefer The March Heath 1974

Anselm Kiefer Nuremberg 1982

Anselm Kiefer Nigredo 1984

Minor White Capitol Reef, Utah 1962

Edward Weston Nude 1925