Critical and Contextual Studies: Landscape

Critical and Contextual Studies: Landscape

Critical and Contextual Understanding: Landscape

About Landscape

  • Landscape is a dominant genre in art, primarily concerned with the depiction of natural scenery like mountains, valleys, trees, rivers and forests.
  • Landscapes can be realistic - based on an actual location, or imaginary - created entirely from the artist’s imagination.
  • Elements like weather, seasons, and time of day also play vital roles in landscape art.

Prominent Artists and Works

  • Caspar David Friedrich is famous for his romantic landscapes like “Wanderer above the Sea of Fog”.
  • The layered, atmospheric landscapes of J.M.W. Turner, such as “The Fighting Temeraire”, are key pieces in this genre.
  • In the 19th century, the Hudson River School, a mid-19th century American art movement, exemplified brilliantly-detailed landscape art.

Approaches to Landscape Art

The Sublime and the Beautiful

  • Concepts like the Sublime and the Beautiful were central to landscape art, particularly in the Romantic period.
  • The Sublime is associated with awe-inspiring, vast, powerful nature whereas the Beautiful pertains to serene, harmonious natural scenes.

The Role of Colour

  • Consider the role of colour in conveying mood, atmosphere and emotion.
  • Artists use colour to depict the time of day, weather conditions, seasonal changes and more.

Space and Composition

  • The arrangement of elements, foreground, middle ground, and background constructs depth and spatial relationships in landscape art.
  • Consider how artists use perspective and scale to achieve this.

Symbolism and Metaphor

  • Some landscapes carry symbolic or metaphorical meanings. For instance, a calm sea could symbolise peace while a stormy one could symbolise turmoil.
  • Interpretations can vary greatly - there could be personal, cultural, or historical symbols embedded in the landscape.

Emotional and Psychological Impact

  • Landscapes can have a deep emotional and psychological impact on viewers.
  • They can invoke feelings of calmness, nostalgia, wanderlust, or even fear, depending on the artist’s intention.

Sociopolitical Context

  • Some landscapes reflect the social and political realities of their time.
  • This could be through representations of industrial landscapes, environmental concerns or urban compared to rural life.