Exercise 1.3: Establishing Conventions
We are asked to use internet search engines, and any other resources, to find at least 12 examples of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century landscape paintings.
This identified, then:
- List all of the commonalities
- Consider the same sorts of things as you did for the sketching exercise 1.1
- Where possible, try to find out why the examples you found were painted (e.g. public or private commission)
Part A - 18th Century Landscape Paintings
Not too much known about this painting other than its a "classical landscape with Mountains by Wilson. A oil painting on canvas deemed 18th century. Interesting as this is similar to my pencil drawing with a person in foreground, a building in mid ground, and mountains in the background
Image 2
Mid 18th Century painting of a scene near Arundel by George Smith. I note like the painting above it has a half a tree on left side edge and also a mid scene building and clouds in background
Image 3
Mid 18th Century Russian landscape by Semyon Schedrin. However details about this painting suggest an intention to copy the style of Western paintings of this time. It has foreground interest with the animals mid range water with background mountains and clouds in the sky. Half tree on the right
Image 4
George Innes, American painter produced this 18th century painting. This also follows the pattern half a tree on one edge, foreground person or animals, mountains or hills in background with clouds in the sky
Image 5
Johan Georg von Dillis, an 18th century painter in this image follows the same theme; people or animals in the foreground, half a tree on edge of painting, mid ground building, background hills with cloudy skies
Image 6
This an 18th century painting by a Dutch painter, the painting called "Castle on the River". I've included this example simply as its different to the previous 5 but does still contain that faded cloudy sky
Part A Summary
Interestingly all the first 5 images replicate a very similar style, noticeable similarities are:
- Tree or half tree on one edge
- Foreground interest of normally people or animals
- Mid ground interest normally a building
- Background interest of normally hills or mountains
- Washed out sky with clouds
I've selected paintings from painters of various countries of American, English, Russian and Dutch and at least 5 of the images, partly all 6 also hare the similarity of my pencil drawing.
I've not studied 18th century landscape painters so it must be a common theme to the method of recording landscapes today.
Part B - 19th Century Landscape Paintings
Image 7
Image 7
This an interesting image from Harvey Joiner and many of his images have a sole subject of trees but the lighting he creates gives an ethereal like almost with hints of danger using some great shades of green in this and other images. Joiner was born and active in Kentucky, Indiana USA. These landscape images with trees I find very fascinating and elements are less obvious and need to be found, even just the contrast changes. This is a different style to the traditional paintings of landscape artists I've looked at for this exercise. Myself living in the Forest of Dean can at times see the effect light at different times of the day and year creating a different effect and mode. I think this should be something I explore in terms of Joiner's work and as a potential set within my own practice
Image 8
Charles Sheeler was an American painter and commercial photographer and possibly for this exercise is borderline 19th century though that was the one he was born in. Quite apt though for this exercise as he is recognised as one of the founders of American modernism and this is different from the pictoriaiist conventions of painters born a few years earlier
Again I think the normal rules of the majority of images I've looked at above are broken but still this image contains the foreground mod ground and background elements. Though it cant be if painted based on an American scene it almost looks like a volcano exploding spewing out ash being carried by the wind left to right. It almost likes like an artist's impression of another world.
Image 9
Image 10
This images is called Flatboat Men (1865) by Robert Scott Duncanson a black painter and this is of a civil war scene which must have meant it was very difficult for him to get any accreditation for his work. This complies with normal pictorial style with foreground rock on left, mid ground flatboat men and hills and clouds in the background.
Image 11
An unknown artist who has produced an oil painting of what is guessed to be the mountains from Austria or Germany.
Image 12
An unknown artist and this painting has been in an exhibition at the Geelong Gallery which featured paintings of the wilderness in the 19th Century. Investigations identifies that many painters accompanied expeditions into the Australian wilderness. This painting also represents the aspects traditionally associated with landscape pictorial images but I found this interesting as the sky is completely framed by rock, the artist perhaps sited within a large cave.
20th Century Landscape Paintings confirming to Pictorialism
Victor Clyde Forsythe's painting "As the desert awakes". The Sierra Nevada mountains lit by the light and painted from somewhere in the Mojave desert. The unique light from this part of California meant many artists including this within their paintings. The image is plit into thirds of desert, mountains and sky and the light quality I assume means that the distance was perfectly lit an in focus for the painter. I do not the format size of the image more square than those in the 2 earlier centuries
British artist Paul Nash has a distinctive style / approach in his paintings. The image almost split into thirds, the hedge in the foreground helping to give achieve this. Research shows this to be Wittenham Clumps, chalk hills, which feature in many of his paintings and have this same style of painting. This is an interesting quote of his:
“Ever since I remember them the Clumps had meant something to me. I felt their importance long before I knew their history...."
21st Century Landscape Paintings confirming to Pictorialism
Called Batik Art, this image by Sergey Davydov and is silk painting in the tradition of batik art and "reflects the recent trends of silk painting development in the world – from photorealism, two-layer and return batik created in most difficult painting techniques with special tools, to abstract compositions made with stamps, rollers and melted waxing".
Called "Sunset Snow" by jac whom I've not been able to find anything about the artist but I've selected the image as its still faithful in part to pictorialism but with a much more current feel.
I've documented my views of the individual paintings and am astounded by the beauty and attention to detail in them all. I've tried to mix up the selection with some borderline pictorialistic images to give some breadth to the selection. The style of pictorialism has perhaps gone out of fashion. Looking at the wiki page for pictorials I find a great quote from Alfred Stieglitz which gives meaning to this style of landscape painting when interpreted into photography:
"Atmosphere is the medium through which we see all things. In order, therefore, to see them in their true value on a photograph, as we do in Nature, atmosphere must be there. Atmosphere softens all lines; it graduates the transition from light to shade; it is essential to the reproduction of the sense of distance. That dimness of outline which is characteristic for distant objects is due to atmosphere. Now, what atmosphere is to Nature, tone is to a picture."
A very interesting quote and tip in why atmosphere of the scene should be captured in the photographic image
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