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In Search of Scientific and Artistic Landscape

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In Search of Scientific and Artistic Landscape IN SEARCH OF SCIENTIFIC AND ARTISTIC LANDSCAPE Düsseldorf Landscape Painting and Reflections of the Natural Sciences as Seen in the Artworks of Finnish, Norwegian and German Artists Anne-Maria Pennonen FINNISH NATIONAL GALLERY FINNISH NATIONAL GALLERY PUBLICATIONS 3 HANS GUDE Forest Interior, 1842 oil on paper fixed on fiberboard 24.5 x 25 cm The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo Photo: The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design / Dag Andre Ivarsøy IN SEARCH OF SCIENTIFIC AND ARTISTIC LANDSCAPE Düsseldorf Landscape Painting and Reflections of the Natural Sciences as Seen in the Artworks of Finnish, Norwegian and German Artists IN SEARCH OF SCIENTIFIC AND ARTISTIC LANDSCAPE Düsseldorf Landscape Painting and Reflections of the Natural Sciences as Seen in the Artworks of Finnish, Norwegian and German Artists Anne-Maria Pennonen DOCTORAL DISSERTATION To be presented for public discussion with the permission of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Helsinki, in Auditorium PIII, on the 21st of February 2020 at 12 o’clock. FINNISH NATIONAL GALLERY PUBLICATIONS 3 PUBLISHER Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki SERIES Finnish National Gallery Publications 3 ABSTRACT Anne-Maria Pennonen GRAPHIC DESIGN Lagarto / Jaana Jäntti & Arto Tenkanen PRINTING Nord Print Oy, Helsinki, 2020 COPYRIGHT Anne-Maria Pennonen and the Finnish National Gallery WEB PUBLICATION https://ethesis.helsinki.fi/ ISBN 978-952-7371-10-7 (paperback) ISBN 978-952-7371-11-4 (PDF) ISSN 2342-1223 (printed) ISSN 2342-1231 (web publication) TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 7 PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 9 1 INTRODUCTION 12 Prologue: Two Views from Kyrö Rapids 12 The Focus and Temporal Scope of the Study 15 Sources: Sketches, Studies and Finished Paintings 21 Previous Research on Finnish Artists and Düsseldorf Landscape Painting 23 The Scientific Approach in Landscape Painting 28 Naturalism, Detail Realism and Phenomenalism 34 Landscape and Nature 39 Finland and Norway as Peripheries 44 Denmark and Sweden as Centres 46 The Structure of this Study 50 PART I: DISCOVERING NATURE 2 TRACING THE DEVELOPMENTS OF NATURAL HISTORY AND THE NATURAL SCIENCES 52 From Natural History to the Natural Sciences 53 The Golden Age of Geology: Neptunism and Vulcanism 56 From Descriptive Geography to Modern Geography 59 Alexander von Humboldt and His Views of Nature 60 From Linnaean Botany to Humboldt’s Geography of Plants 65 The Birth of Meteorology: Luke Howard and His Taxonomy of Clouds 68 Organising Landscape Studies and Scientific Research in Finland 70 Zacharias Topelius and Finnish Geography 71 3 ARTISTIC EXPEDITIONS AND LANDSCAPE AESTHETICS 74 Early German Outdoor Painting in Dresden 75 Johan Christian Clausen Dahl in the Norwegian Mountains 78 Carl Gustav Carus and His Erleben-Bildkunst 85 The Early Tradition of German Landscape Aesthetics 90 Humboldtian Landscape Aesthetics 92 Grand Tours and Illustrated Travel Accounts 99 Reisekünstler or Travelling Artists 101 In Pursuit of Norwegian Mountains 103 Norway Illustrated in Drawings 105 Early Travelogues Illustrating Finland 107 Finland Illustrated in Drawings 109 PART II: FROM DÜSSELDORF TO THE WORLD 4 THE PROMISED LAND OF LANDSCAPE PAINTING 113 The Allure of Düsseldorf 114 Der Landschaftliche Komponierverein 116 Studying Nature Face to Face 117 The Appreciation of Sketches and Studies versus Finished Pictures 122 Eifel as a Historical Setting in Lessing’s Siege, 1848 125 Schirmer at Etretat in Normandy 130 Clouds as Indicators of Mood and Change 133 Studying Nature in Grafenberg and Neandertal 138 The Fascination for Geological Forms in Ahrtal, Eifel and Harz 145 Forest Scenery and Intriguing Oaks and Beeches 152 The Fascination with Cypresses and Poplars 156 Norway’s Mountain Landscapes 162 Eugène von Guérard Discovering Australia 174 American Visions of Landscape 176 5 FACING FINNISH NATURE 180 The First Artistic Expeditions in Finland 184 Topelius’s View of Finland 186 Holmberg’s Travels in Finland 190 Motifs from Toriseva 193 Thunder Approaching over the Slash-and-burn Landscape 202 Churberg’s Studies of the Rapakivi Rocks 210 In the Forest 216 The Studio as a Metaphor for Laboratory 224 CONCLUSIONS 227 SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 233 INDEX 244 ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between landscape painting in Düsseldorf and the natural sciences in the nineteenth century. The natural sciences here com- prise meteorology, geology, geography and botany. The point of view provided by these fields offers an approach to the subject that has not been considered in Finnish art-historical discourse to date. The main focus is on the artworks of Finnish artists Werner Holmberg and Fanny Churberg, as well as those by Victoria Åberg, Magnus and Ferdinand von Wright, with essential comparison material provided by studying works by German artists Johann Wilhelm Schirmer and Carl Friedrich Lessing, and by Norwegian artists Hans Gude and August Cappelen. The primary material consists of sketches, studies and finished works of art, and I reflect on the developments of the natural sciences in Germany, Norway and Finland in the nineteenth century and how these affected the works of art, us- ing the history of ideas and discourse analysis. As such, I approach the topic from a thematic perspective and aim to connect new concepts and ideas of natural sci- ences with individual works of art. The main temporal scope of this study falls between the years 1853 and 1880. However, this time period should not be understood too strictly, because it is not possible to talk about the relationship between landscape painting and natural sciences within these decades alone. Already during the first decades of the nine- teenth century, artists in Dresden were interested in natural sciences, as well as drawing and painting studies from nature. The same trend continued in Düsseldorf, ABSTRACT 7 starting in the 1820s, where it was considered essential to observe the landscape in a ‘proper fashion’, and expressions such as ‘the new naturalism’ and ‘the truth of nature’ were widely used. The Düsseldorf landscape movement shows how the development of natural sciences influenced the idea of landscape. It was not only work in the studio that was important, but also the work outdoors in nature, increasing the value of sketches and studies in the light of this investigation. Thanks to the activities of Jo- hann Wilhelm Schirmer and Carl Friedrich Lessing in the field of open-air painting, the notion of naturalism gained the dimension it has been granted in this investi- gation. It was their example that encouraged younger artists to go out into nature in pursuit of depicting different landscape phenomena. When researching open-air painting, these artists’ travels made also gained more importance. The idea of discovery in connection with travelling led me to follow in the footsteps of Alexander von Humboldt. His work as a naturalist, making one of his voyages of discovery to South and Central America, helped me to connect landscape painting with the development of different fields of natural sciences, starting at the end of the eighteenth century and expanding all the way through the following century. However, during the first half of the nineteenth cen- tury, natural sciences had not yet been separated into the distinct disciplines that we know them as today. Moreover, several artists worked closely with scientists, illustrating their research. Humboldt was a representative of Romantic science, and in his work he regarded landscape painting as an essential way of studying na- ture. He also co-operated with several artists. The artistic process of composing a landscape, in effect, recalls the work of a naturalist, as described by Humboldt. Here it was essential to investigate different elements separately first, by drawing and painting sketches and studies from nature, after which work continued in the studio. Likewise, Humboldt reverted to landscape aesthetics in his writings. In the case of Finnish landscapes, many artists were guided by the work and writings of Zacharias Topelius when they encountered certain elements and features. Being one of the leading cultural figures in Finland at the time, Topelius worked as an author, journalist, Secretary of the Finnish Art Society and as a teacher lecturing on geography at the University of Helsinki. 8 IN SEARCH OF SCIENTIFIC AND ARTISTIC LANDSCAPE PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Düsseldorf, with its famous Art Academy, played a significant role in the develop- ment of Finnish landscape painting in the 19th century. I visited the city for the first time on my summer holiday in 2007. Not long before that I had been accepted as a postgraduate student at the University of Helsinki, and the topic of my ensuing doctoral thesis would be Düsseldorf landscape painting, although I did not know exactly from what point of view. In 2008, I started to work on my thesis full-time, and the Summer School arranged by the Finnish Doctoral Programme in Art His- tory in August that year guided me on the right path, but I was still struggling with the topic. During the whole research project, the valuable support, understanding and encouragement I have received from my supervisor Professor Emerita Riitta Konttinen has helped me to continue on this path. Therefore I extend my warmest thanks to her. I am also grateful to my other supervisor Professor Ville Lukkarinen for his insightful and useful comments. In 2009, I had another opportunity to travel to Düsseldorf. On that trip I visited the Kunstakademie and several museums and walked around the city, feel- ing the atmosphere, seeing places where artists had lived and worked. I also found an interesting catalogue for an exhibition, Wolkenbilder: Von John Constable bis Gerhard Richter, that had been arranged at the Aargauer Kunsthaus in Aarau in 2005. It had focused on clouds and celestial phenomena in the arts. One of the articles in the catalogue focused on meteorology in the 19th century. While I was holding the catalogue in my hands, I realised that I had found my route into Düsseldorf landscape painting: the development of the natural sciences in the 19th century.
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