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Nicolas Poussin, Landscape with Saint John on Patmos, 1640, oil on canvas, 100.3 x 136.4 cm

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17th Century Landscape  - Classicism: Inspiration from the Past 

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17th Century Landscape  - Classicism: Inspiration from the Past 

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During the 17th Century, Greek and Roman art was being revived by the Baroque. Artists were looking back on the traditions of art and creating based off the rules of the past. The Greek and Roman Ideals of calculated order were valued and looked back upon by intellectuals. Landscape during this time was seen as a lower form of art. In Landscape with Saint John on Patmos, Poussin elevates landscape in the eyes of intellectuals, he uses symbolism of the past to look back upon the history of art and traditional values. The figure of St. John sits in the foreground, recognizable by the symbol of the eagle next to him. He is surrounded by the towering remnants of classical ancient art and tradition. The landscape is calculated and beautiful, the viewers eye can effortlessly scan the composition and notice symbolic detail. The calculated order of the composition mimics the values held by art tradition and classicism in the 17th Century.

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Caspar David Friedrich, Monk by the Sea, c. 1809, oil on canvas, 43″ x 67 1/2″ / 110 x 171.5 cm

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18th Century Landscape - Romanticism and the Sublime

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18th Century Landscape - Romanticism and the Sublime

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In the 18th and 19th century, the controlled order of Neoclassicism transitions into the picturesque. Romanticism emerges as a counter movement to Classicism, the mystery and irrationality of romanticism over precision and the exact. Landscape becomes more important because of how it communicates the sublime, beautiful, and picturesque. In Monk by the Sea, Friedrich uses the medium of landscape in this way, to communicate the beautiful and thrilling qualities of nature. The monk looks out at the endless sky and sea, appearing small and powerless by the vast scale of of the sky. There is a sense that he is contemplating the spiritual world, surrounded by the power of nature. Friedrich uses atmospheric perspective and haze to create an immense sense of space. The viewer sees themselves in the singular figure of the monk, the artwork communicates Romanticism through inwards thinking and a feeling of the Sublime.

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John Constable, The Hay Wain, 1821, oil on canvas, 51–1/4 x 73″

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Early 19th Century Landscape - A New Kind of History Painting

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Early 19th Century Landscape - A New Kind of History Painting

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Heading into the 19th century landscape was still seen as one of the lowest genres of painting. Inspired by Romanticism and the picturesque, John Constable helped to revive landscape by elevating the scale and changing the status-quo. The Hay Wain and other Constable landscapes are painted on a massive six foot long canvas. He wanted to present these landscapes as history painting, depicting a time before the industrial revolution. In the 19th century Industrialization was full swing, the poor were suffering and farm-life was not the same. The Hay Wain depicts a scene nostalgic to many, a beautiful memory of life on the family farm, enjoying nature as it is. The rural landscape is free of factories or smoke, the beautiful and picturesque are the focus. It serves as an image of the past, a history of simple life untouched by the complexities of industrialization. John Constable creates a unique combination of landscape and history painting, reminding audiences of the simple beauties of landscape.

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Thomas Cole, View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm -
The Oxbow, 1836, oil on canvas

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19th Century Landscape - Romanticism and Historic Symbolism

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19th Century Landscape - Romanticism and Historic Symbolism

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Into the Mid to late 19th Century, American landscape artists were inspired by the works of Constable and Friedrich and their depictions of the picturesque and the sublime. Thomas Cole was the Founder of the Hudson River School, a group of American landscape artists with a shared vision of landscape art as a form of History Painting. In The Oxbow, Thomas Cole uses symbolism, the sublime, and the picturesque to create a landscape that displays a story of history. The landscape depicts the Connecticut River as seen on the right side of the image. The calm and tamed beauty of the landscape has been settled upon, there are signs of settlements in the flat farmland. The left of the composition is much more unruly, the stormy clouds and dense brush are wild and untamed. The broken tree limbs reveal the harsh power of nature. The dark and powerful sky with rain and lightning is awe inspiring, a demonstration of the sublime. The Contrast of the intimidating sublime on the left with the pastoral scene on the right is a symbolic representation of Manifest Destiny, the American idea of mans God given right to settle and tame the landscape. Cole depicts this idea with confident ambition, the painting is large and insistent of the importance that it deserves. The Oxbow combines the use of romanticism and historic symbolism to elevate landscape and display the beauty and power the genre can have.

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Thomas Cole, Prometheus Bound, c. 1847, oil on canvas, 64 x 96 in.

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Prometheus Bound - Landscape, Classicism, and the Sublime

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Prometheus Bound - Landscape, Classicism, and the Sublime

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Artist

Thomas Cole

Title

Prometheus Bound

Date

1847

Object Type

Painting

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

64 x 96 in. (162.6 x 243.8 cm); Frame: 115 0 x 83 in. (292.1 x 210.8 cm)

Credit Line

Museum purchase, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Steven MacGregor Read and Joyce I. Swader Bequest Fund

Accession Number

1997.28

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Artist Thomas Cole Title Prometheus Bound Date 1847 Object Type Painting Medium Oil on canvas Dimensions 64 x 96 in. (162.6 x 243.8 cm); Frame: 115 0 x 83 in. (292.1 x 210.8 cm) Credit Line Museum purchase, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Steven MacGregor Read and Joyce I.