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Landscape painting: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Landscape painting
The earliest pure landscapes with no human figures emerged around 1500 BCE in the Minoan civilization, specifically in the Spring Fresco found at Akrotiri. This ancient artwork, now housed in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, represents a pivotal moment where art shifted from depicting hunting scenes or individual plant forms to presenting a coherent natural setting. While earlier Egyptian frescos like those in the Tomb of Nebamun from 1350 BC offered a strong sense of place through reed beds and the Nile Delta, the emphasis remained on individual figures rather than the overall environment. The Minoan Spring Fresco broke this mold by presenting a landscape as the primary subject, establishing a precedent that would take centuries to fully develop in the West. These early works, though often surviving only in fragments, demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of spatial relationships that would remain elusive for millennia. The only complete example of this early style survives in Athens, serving as a rare testament to a tradition that largely disappeared before the Roman era.
The World Landscape Revolution
Joachim Patinir, a Flemish painter active between 1480 and 1524, pioneered the world landscape style, a revolutionary approach that combined panoramic views with small human figures. His masterpiece, Landscape with Charon Crossing the Styx, created between 1515 and 1524, exemplifies this new genre where the viewer looks down from a high aerial viewpoint upon a vast, imaginary terrain. This style, which remained influential for a century, was perfected by artists like Pieter Brueghel the Elder and marked a significant departure from the traditional use of landscapes merely as backgrounds for religious narratives. Patinir's innovation allowed for the depiction of mountains, rivers, and forests in a way that felt both grand and accessible, bridging the gap between foreground action and distant vistas. The Dutch Golden Age later saw a dramatic shift away from these imaginary panoramas toward close-up renderings of identifiable country estates, a transition signaled by the publication of the Small Landscapes series in 1559 and 1561. These prints, created by an anonymous artist known as the Master of the Small Landscapes, focused on humble rural scenes populated by figures engaged in daily activities, setting the stage for the realistic landscape painting that would dominate the 17th century.
The Mountain Water Tradition
In East Asia, the shan shui or mountain-water tradition developed a sophisticated system of landscape painting that stood in stark contrast to Western developments. Originating in the Tang dynasty and reaching its zenith during the Song dynasty, this style used monochrome ink on silk or paper to create landscapes that were rarely intended to represent actual locations. The decisive shift to this monochrome style is attributed to Wang Wei, a poet and painter who lived from 699 to 759, whose works mostly survive only as copies. Unlike Western artists who struggled with perspective for centuries, Chinese painters utilized mist and clouds to create depth, often showing only distant views or using dead ground to avoid the difficulty of scaling. The tradition valued the amateur scholar-gentleman, often a poet, over professional artists, and famous works accumulated red appreciation seals and poems added by later owners, including the prolific Qianlong Emperor. This approach, which saw landscapes as vehicles for infinite nuances of vision and feeling, became China's greatest contribution to world art, influencing Japanese traditions and creating a continuous lineage of artistic expression that persists to the present day.
Common questions
When did the earliest pure landscapes with no human figures emerge?
The earliest pure landscapes with no human figures emerged around 1500 BCE in the Minoan civilization. This artwork is specifically the Spring Fresco found at Akrotiri and is now housed in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
Who pioneered the world landscape style in Flemish painting?
Joachim Patinir, a Flemish painter active between 1480 and 1524, pioneered the world landscape style. His masterpiece Landscape with Charon Crossing the Styx was created between 1515 and 1524 and exemplifies this new genre.
Which dynasty marked the zenith of the shan shui mountain-water tradition in East Asia?
The shan shui or mountain-water tradition reached its zenith during the Song dynasty. This style originated in the Tang dynasty and used monochrome ink on silk or paper to create landscapes that were rarely intended to represent actual locations.
What caused the dramatic growth in landscape painting during the Dutch Golden Age?
The Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century witnessed a dramatic growth in landscape painting driven by the virtual disappearance of religious art in Calvinist society. Artists like Jacob van Ruisdael developed extremely subtle realist techniques for depicting light and weather.
When was the famous painting Wanderer above the Sea of Fog created?
German painter Caspar David Friedrich created his famous work Wanderer above the Sea of Fog in 1818. This piece exemplifies the Romantic movement where remote and wild landscapes became prominent sources of spiritual and emotional expression.
Who were the leading English watercolour painters of the early 19th century?
By the early 19th century English artists with the highest modern reputations were mostly dedicated landscape painters including John Constable, J.M.W. Turner, and Samuel Palmer. These artists laid the groundwork for the modern appreciation of natural beauty despite contemporary struggles to establish themselves in a market that still preferred history paintings and portraits.
The Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century witnessed a dramatic growth in landscape painting, driven by the virtual disappearance of religious art in Calvinist society. Artists like Jacob van Ruisdael, considered the most versatile of all Dutch landscape painters, developed extremely subtle realist techniques for depicting light and weather. The popularity of landscapes in the Netherlands reflected a new national identity, with painters specializing in sub-genres such as the Batalje or battle-scene, the Maneschijntje or moonlight scene, and the Bosjes or woodland scene. Unlike their Italian and French contemporaries who often kept their classification within the hierarchy of genres by including small figures, Dutch artists focused on the landscape itself. The tradition included the painting of Roman ruins, such as the popular Egmond Abbey, which had been ruined after the Beeldenstorm. This era also saw the development of landscape prints, with the experimental works of Hercules Seghers and Rembrandt considered the finest. The Dutch tendency to make smaller paintings for smaller houses created a market that allowed for a wide range of styles, from the tonal landscapes of Jan van Goyen to the large Flemish Baroque works of Peter Paul Rubens.
Romanticism and the Sublime
The Romantic movement of the 19th century intensified the existing interest in landscape art, transforming it from a background element into a primary source of spiritual and emotional expression. German painter Caspar David Friedrich developed a distinctive style influenced by his Danish training, adding a quasi-mystical Romanticism to the Dutch 17th-century example. His famous work, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, created in 1818, exemplifies this new approach where remote and wild landscapes became prominent. In the United States, the Hudson River School, founded by Thomas Cole, created works of mammoth scale that attempted to capture the epic scope of the American landscape. Later artists like Albert Bierstadt placed a greater emphasis on the raw, even terrifying power of nature, while Frederic Edwin Church synthesized European Old Masters with the writings of John Ruskin and Alexander von Humboldt. This period marked a shift where landscape painting became the chief artistic creation of the 19th century, with Sir Kenneth Clark confirming it as the dominant art form. The movement also saw the rise of the Barbizon School in France, which established a tradition that would influence Impressionism and Post-Impressionism for the first time making landscape painting the main source of general stylistic innovation across all types of painting.
The Watercolour Revolution
In the 18th century, watercolour painting became an English specialty, developing a distinct tradition of talented artists who painted almost entirely in this medium. Leading figures such as John Robert Cozens, Francis Towne, and Thomas Girtin created a buoyant market for professional works alongside a large number of amateur painters who followed popular systems found in books by Alexander Cozens. These watercolours were often real views, though sometimes adjusted for artistic effect, and sold relatively cheaply but were far quicker to produce. The tradition allowed professionals to augment their income by training armies of amateurs, creating a widespread appreciation for landscape art. By the early 19th century, English artists with the highest modern reputations were mostly dedicated landscape painters, including John Constable, J.M.W. Turner, and Samuel Palmer. Despite their contemporary struggles to establish themselves in a market that still preferred history paintings and portraits, these artists laid the groundwork for the modern appreciation of natural beauty. The English landscape gardens of Capability Brown and others were influenced by the works of Claude Lorrain, further cementing the connection between landscape painting and the physical environment.
The Global Expansion of Style
As the 19th century progressed, landscape painting became a vehicle for national identity and cultural expression across the globe. In Russia, the gigantic size of paintings served as a nationalist statement, while in Poland, artists like Maksymilian Gierymski and Józef Chełmoński developed distinctive styles that reflected their homeland's topography. Spain saw the rise of Carlos de Haes, a Belgium-born painter who took his students to paint outdoors, utilizing the new railway system to explore the furthest corners of the nation's topography. The Group of Seven in Canada, prominent in the 1920s, created the best examples of Canadian landscape art, while the Hudson River School in the United States continued to influence American art. In the 20th century, significant artists like Edvard Munch, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Andrew Wyeth continued to paint landscapes in a wide variety of styles. The genre expanded to include other forms such as moonscapes, skyscapes, and aerial landscapes, reflecting the changing relationship between humanity and the environment. This global expansion demonstrated that while the techniques and styles varied, the fundamental desire to capture the essence of the natural world remained a universal human impulse.