When we think of landscape art there are a few artists who spring to mind, Turner, Monet, Van Gogh and we might think of green fields or haystacks. Surprisingly this genre wasn’t taken seriously for many years, only emerging from the background in the seventeenth century. Today it is a major theme and takes all forms, with a variety of subject matter, and media.
One of the first European landscape artists was fifteenth century artist Albrecht Dürer, as well as painting he is also known for his woodcut prints, and his writings on perspective.
He introduced classical motifs into Northern Art through his travels and knowledge of Italian artists such as Raphael, Bellini and da Vinci. He is one of the most important figures of the Northern Renaissance not only for his art but also his treaties on maths, perspective and ideal proportions. Before Dürer’s ideas, painters would have worked on instinct alone, by using mathematical systems, advances were made in portraying human proportions, linear perspective and space.
His first known painting is The Wire -Drawing Mill, c1489, clearly he has established foreground, middle-ground and background through a combination of perspective and colour. It seems a little unreal in ways and somehow modern at the same time, his precision probably deriving from his goldsmith training.
He painted the same scene again,The Willow Mill, c1496/8 this time with more expression and less precision, with the landscape playing a less important role.
His travels in Italy had a huge and direct influence on his art, his watercolours from his time in the Alps were described as some of his most beautiful creations, “depicting segments of landscape scenery cleverly chosen for their compositional values, painted with broad strokes, in places roughly sketched in, with amazing harmonisation of detail. He used predominantly unmixed, cool, sombre colours, which, despite his failure to contrast light and dark adequately, still suggest depth and atmosphere¹.”
Though he moved to portraiture he often kept landscape in the background, in the style of Venetian and Florentine paintings of that era. His later works became more expressive and more detailed. He also spent time observing nature at close hand, animals and plants in particular, see his young hare.
His eye for detail led to the exploration of perspective and proportion, resulting in several publications, among them a treatise on fortifications, the first printed book of its kind, using advanced perspective ideas such as bird’s eye views. His woodcuts revolutionised printmaking, elevating it to an independent art form. His tonal range added a dramatic element to the previously flat lacking texture and tone.
In the seventeenth century Lorrain became known for his idyllic landscapes based on classical proportions and references to mythology. He extended the concept of landscape by adding biblical and mythological characters thereby giving it historical significance and raising its importance. His figures are classically dressed, set in pastoral settings, representing man in harmony with nature.
This is one of his most famous works, The Father of Psyche sacrificing at the Temple of Apollo, the landscape clearly dominates the scene, the huge trees overshadowing the picture.
He travelled from his native France, spending time in Italy in the hills around Rome. He was noted for his draughtsmanship, showing an eye for detail and carefully planned composition, yet his sketchbooks were filled with realistic detail.
He was meticulous in his work, making copies of all his paintings into a ‘liber veritatas’, in order to defeat forgers, but also as a personal reference and source book. He inspired Turner, Constable and Keats and even influenced the design of many English gardens.
Whilst his style and subject matter are consistent his compositions become increasingly complex. His earlier works are described as charming and picturesque, yet as he matured they become more classical in tone and theme.
His work reflects his appreciation of light and its many effects, almost all of 