THE GENRE OF LANDSCAPE
John Wolseley, (b. 1938 U.K. lives Aust.),
Flamingos – wind in reeds, graphite and
watercolour, 77 x55cm, 2009.
The word “landscape” is literally, our surroundings,
traditionally the natural forms. We may also talk
of a cityscape, urbanscape or seascape (I include all
these categories when we talk about landscape.)
The view is far-looking, rather than a close-up
detail. It can be a true observation of what is seen,
(as with Wolseley’s work, here) or an imagined
landscape, or combination.
Using the Structural frame, what could we say
about the way this work has been composed, and
about the choice of media?
How would you say Wolseley has represented
his world with this image?
The genre (or category) of
landscape painting has been
around since ancient Greek and
Roman times.
‘Spring Fresco’, wall painting and detail by an
unknown artist, dating from
1500-1550 BCE, in Akrotiri, Greece. Central
wall: 250 x 260 cm.
Side walls: 250 x 222 and 250 x 188 cm.
National Archaeological Museum, Athens
During the Middle Ages, (5th to 15th century) landscape painting went out of favour,
unless it was within a religious context. (In Europe, this period was very religious as well
as superstitious.)
In the early Middle Ages there was a view that Nature wasn’t really something to be
enjoyed, but a fearful place, or else a place that humans should work on to produce
food. Also, people shouldn’t spend time thinking about the beauty of Nature, when
their attention should be on the next world, that is, heaven.
Giotto, (Italian 1266/7 -1337), The
Lamentation of Christ, 1305, fresco, 200 x
185cm
In Medieval art, everything in the image was a symbol of spiritual things. There
was not the same desire for naturalism and realism that later artists had.
UPPER RHENISH MASTER, Paradise Garden,1410?, mixed media on
Wood panel, 26 x 33cm.jpg
There was an idea that the purpose of
art was to bring people to God, or make
them better people (a ‘moral purpose.’)
Stories from The Bible were lessons on
how to live your life well. Paintings
describing Bible stories, as well as
stories from classical myths and
legends, were the most highly
regarded. By the 17th century there was
a hierarchy of genres in painting, saying
which types of art were the best.
Alessandro Moretto, (Italy, 1478 /1518 –1554) Christ and the woman of Samaria,
oil on canvas , 38 x 31cm
What do we think the purpose of art is these days? Does it have one?
Pietro Perugino (Italian 1430 /1470 – 1523)
Nativity, 1504, oil on wood panel
34x 45cm
With the Renaissance (14th-17th century) there was a renewed interest in Nature
and the World generally for its own sake, and for its scientific interest. The
Renaissance marked the beginning of the rise of science and reason.
The Christian church was still enormously powerful and would be for some
centuries to come, but there was a growing awareness of the ancient civilisations of
Greece and Rome (from before the birth of Christ.) These civilisations emphasised
the importance of humankind rather than God.
This doesn’t mean people turned away from the Church; but the way of thinking
about the world changed. The natural world became something to be explored and
represented again.
It was during this Renaissance period that the idea of both linear and atmospheric
perspective in Painting developed. With Medieval art, paintings tend to be quite
flat looking, without a good sense of depth or 3D. During the Renaissance, this
changed.
Two Italians, Brunelleschi and Alberti , working at the beginning of the 15th
century, developed the idea of linear perspective in drawing and painting. This is
the idea that a sense of 3 dimensions (depth of field) can be captured on a 2dimensional surface. This was calculated mathematically.
Piero Della Francesca, ( Italian,1415 – 1492)
The Flagellation of Christ,1455, Oil and
tempera on panel, 59 x 82 cm
Linear perspective was developed from geometrical calculations. To the
people of the Renaissance, this was a wonderful combination of God’s
brilliant design + Man’s mind. Yes, Man’s mind was designed by God too. But
it was with the capacity for reason and thought that Man became most
God-like.
All of Nature is subject to God’s mathematics. Linear
perspective, and creating artworks that used this new
way of representing the world, imposes this geometry
onto unruly Nature. Linear Perspective was a symbol
of Man’s place as the creature who orders God’s
world. Humans ARE in charge of the natural world,
and it can all be understood in terms of mathematics
and calculation.
Giovanni d'Alemagna, (German, d. 1450) The blinding of
St Apollonia, c.1440-45, tempera on panel, 54 x 34cm
It was this sense of Man ordering God’s world - commencing in the Renaissance
and gathering weight through the centuries - that encouraged European powers
to believe they had not only a right to Colonise other countries, but an obligation.
The indigenous people were often seen as less than human, more like animals. It
was (white) man’s role to get some order into these wild worlds with his reason,
his science. The use of linear perspective has come to be seen as a symbol of
European man’s imperialism.
Raphael, (Italian, 1483 c- 1520 ) School of Athens, 1509–1510, tempera, 500 x 770cm.
LINKS
JOHN WOLSELEY: http://www.roslynoxley9.com.au/artists/1/John_Wolseley/1235/43769/
RENAISSANCE: http://faculty.ucc.edu/egh-damerow/renaissance.htm
Heirarchy of Genres: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/hierarchy-of-genres.htm