- Landscapes - Martin Constable western - Landscapes - > Martin Constable Content 1. The Pre-History of Landscape Painting 2. Painting from Observation / in the Studio 3. How a Landscape Painting is Constructed I: Depth Planes 4. How a Landscape Painting is Constructed II: 2D Space 5. How a Landscape Painting is Constructed III: Skies 6. Hudson River Painters 1: The Pre-History of Landscape Painting ‘Landscape with scene from the Odyssey’ Around 60 – 40 b.c. Unknown artist Painted 2,000 years ago, the landscape in this painting serves as little more than as a support for a classical narrative. ‘Landscape with scene from the Odyssey Around 60 – 40 b.c. Unknown artist ‘No. 36 Scenes from the Life of Christ: 20. Lamentation (The Mourning of Christ)’ Between 1304 and 1306 Giotto (1266–1337) painted 1,000 years later, here the classical narrative has been replaced by a biblical one. ‘No. 36 Scenes from the Life of Christ: 20. Lamentation (The Mourning of Christ) Between 1304 and 1306 Giotto (1266–1337) ‘The Tempest’ 1508 Giorgione (1417 - 1510) Giorgione’s ‘Tempest’ is very formalised, exhibiting a strong diagonal divide: Left: male, culture, conquest, straight forms. Right: female, nature, family, curvy forms. ‘The Tempest’ 1508 Giorgione Just about visible: a stork! Then (as now) this bird represented family, childbirth and the love of children. Though this painting (as most other pre-modern paintings) can be read as some sort of dialogue between male and female, we are not sure exactly what it means. Its title was ‘given’ by scholars and its figures do not correspond exactly to any known male / female pair (e.g. Adam and Eve, Paris and Oenone etc). This opacity to clear reading perhaps accounts for its lasting appeal. This, and the preceding Roman wall paintings, can be understood as being ‘proto-landscapes’: early progenitors before the genre had fully developed. ‘Landscape with Saint Jerome’ 1516 Joachim Patinir (1480 - 1524) Joachim Patinir was the first person to use the term ‘landscape’. ‘Landscape with Saint Jerome 1516 Joachim Patinir ‘St Christopher Bearing the Christ Child’ c1525 Joachim Patinir (1480 - 1524) ‘Crossing the River Styx’ c1525 Joachim Patinir (1480 - 1524) All of his landscapes support some sort of classical / biblical narrative. ‘Crossing the River Styx’ c1525 Joachim Patinir ‘Icarus’ c1560 Pieter Bruegel (1525 - 1569) Bruegel was the germ of what we now know as ‘realist’. Realism claims to present to the world an unvarnished truth, without idealism and not an illustration of any classical / biblical reference. The figures in this painting are dressed as people would have dressed at the time it was painted. They are also not ‘notable’ (i.e. not rich, powerful, or known people). ‘Icarus’ c1560 Pieter Bruegel Despite being titled ‘Icarus’ there appears, at first glance, to be no overt visual reference to Icarus himself. However, if we look carefully… ‘Icarus’ c1560 Pieter Bruegel Here! ‘Icarus’ c1560 Pieter Bruegel It seems as if this artist went as far as he possibly could in ‘doing a landscape for its own sake’ yet can not quite let go of the need for it to have overt content. ‘Icarus’ c1560 Pieter Bruegel ‘Danube landscape near Regensburg’ c1522 – 1525 Albrecht Altdorfer (1480 - 1538) Altdorfer was probably the first to do a landscape ‘for its own sake’. This painting contains no humans, however like most of his landscape paintings, it features traces of human activity (in this case a castle). It is relevant that the title of this painting refers directly to a known place. In this sense, it is a true ‘painting of a place’. ‘Danube landscape near Regensburg c1522 – 1525 Albrecht Altdorfer (1480 - 1538 ‘The Battle of Issus’ c1522 – 1525 Albrecht Altdorfer (1480 - 1538) This is a bit of a cheat. Whilst not strictly speaking a landscape painting, Altdorfer’s ‘The Battle of Alexander at Issus’ is so dam good it deserves a special mention. Depicting an historical battle, the painting is magnificently detailed… ‘The Battle of Issus’ c1522 – 1525 Albrecht Altdorfer (1480 - 1538) 2: Painting from Observation / in the Studio Like any observational artist, the landscape painter has to negotiate a relationship to the thing that they are painting. In the case of landscape, this requires that the artist has to leave the studio. This constitutes part of the ‘special case’ of landscape painting. For most of art history, artists would construct a landscape whilst they were in their studio, using the observed landscape as a distant reference. As stated, these landscapes were mere backdrops for a theme, usually derived from the Bible or classical literature. ‘Road through an Oak Forest’ 1646 Jacob van Ruisdael (1628 - 1682) Flemish and Dutch painters, like Jacob van Ruisdael, offered a very ‘realistic’ view of nature. However, these were still very idealised, being made in the studio from reference drawings and sketches. ‘Road through an Oak Forest 1646 Jacob van Ruisdael ‘Flatford Mill’ 1820 John Constable (1776 – 1834) Landscape painting was very popular with the Romantic painters. Most of them featured the usual traces of human activity. ‘Flatford Mill 1820 John Constable (1776 – 18 ‘Wanderer above the Sea of Fog’ 1818 Caspar David Friedrich (1774 – 1840) ‘Petworth Park’ 1830 Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775 – 1851) ‘A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie’, 1866, Albert Bierstadt (1830 -1902) ‘A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie’, 1866, Albert Bierstadt (1830 -1902) The Hudson River painters were an exception, with much of their work being of known places in the US, often devoid of humans or any human trace. However, the implied narrative was almost as strong: that it was the ‘manifest destiny’ of Americans to ‘conquer’ this new territory. ‘Valley of the Yosemite’, 1864, Albert Bierstadt (1830 -1902) ‘Valley of the Yosemite’, 1864, Albert Bierstadt (1830 -1902) Frequently animals served as proxy humans, being placed in exactly the position a human would have been placed. ‘Valley of the Yosemite’, 1864, Albert Bierstadt (1830 -1902) What they lacked in overt content, they made up for in meteorological excess. They were glorious in their lighting and color, and frequently depicted sunsets or storms (more Hudson River paintings later). ‘Valley of the Yosemite’, 1864, Albert Bierstadt (1830 -1902) In response to increasing urban development and industrialisation, the landscape was seen more as a special place in which God lived. Something that was larger and more powerful than humans. ‘The Bridge at Narni' 1826 Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796 - 1875) Corot was (probably) the first artist who placed landscape front and centre, independent of any supporting human narrative and unmediated by the studio. They were painted directly from observation and not altered in the studio, a very unusual practice at that time. ‘The Bridge at Narni' 1826 Jean-Baptiste-Camille (1796 - 1875) ‘Civita Castellana' 1826 Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796 - 1875) ‘A Rising Path' 1826 Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796 - 1875) John Constable deserves a special mention in this context. His observations from nature were meticulous to the point of obsession. He kept a regular weather diary, noting the temperature, air pressure and suchlike. He also made many oil sketches purely as research, with no intension to directly incorporate them into his paintings. ‘Landscape in Suffolk' 1750 Thomas Gainsborough (1727 - 1788) From the other side of the hill comes Gainsborough. His landscapes were very synthetic things, being heavily invented within the studio. ‘Landscape in Suffolk' 1750 Thomas Gainsborough (1727 - 1788) He had an interesting technique: to arrange a table with coal, broccoli, cabbage and rocks. Then to invent a landscape based upon what he was looking at. ‘Landscape in Suffolk' 1750 Thomas Gainsborough (1727 - 1788) This is a recreation done as a student exercise: This is a recreation done as a student exercise: ‘Drawing of a Landscape' 1920 Pierre Bonnard (1867 - 1947) Bonnard had an interesting technique. He would first draw the landscape from observation using no more than pencil and note pad paper. he would then move to his studio and produce a full color painting using no more than the drawing as reference. The color would come from the variety of lines he employed: the variance being in their weight, the marks he employed, the angle he was holding the pencil, how sharp the pencil was etc. In essence: he was drawing color. I set this as an excersise for my students. Only around 1 in 10 are able to satisfactory respond. ‘Drawing of a Landscape' 1920 Pierre Bonnard (1867 - 1947) ‘Mr. and Mrs. Andrews’ c1750 Thomas Gainsborough (1727 - 1788) Here the couple have been painted in front of land that they own. Clearly in this case some sort of verisimilitude is necessary, with the painting serving as evidence of ownership. ‘Mr. and Mrs. Andrews’ c1750 Thomas Gainsborough (1727 - 1788 ‘View of Halliburton's Hills' 1818 Captain Robert Smith (1787-1873) Here the ownership is larger in scale. Captain. Robert Smith’s paintings were done as testament to one nation’s ownership of another. ‘View of Halliburton's Hills' 1818 Captain Robert Smith (1787-1873 That having been said, he did not just paint regions of economic or cultural relevance. He clearly knew the region well (Penang) and always chose his locations very well. ‘View of Halliburton's Hills' 1818 Captain Robert Smith (1787-1873 ‘The Chinese Mills' 1818 Captain Robert Smith (1787-1873) This sensitivity did not extend towards the denizens of the region, who he typically exited with bizarre and / or inaccurate costumes. ‘Glugor House And Spice Plantations' 1818 Captain Robert Smith (1787-1873) ‘View From Convalescent Bunglow' 1818 Captain Robert Smith (1787-1873) A photo taken by me from the same vantage point. Not relevant, but kinda interesting. ‘View of Singapore, from Dr Little's garden' 1870 Marianne North (1830 - 1890) Mariam North was similar, but took a special interest in the botany of the region.