Exercise 1.3 Establishing conventions

Using internet search engines and any other resources, find at least 12 examples of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century landscape paintings. List all of the commonalities you can find across your examples. Consider the same sorts of things as you did for the sketching exercise at the start of Part One. Where possible, try to find out why the examples you found were painted (e.g. public or private commission). Your research should provide you with some examples of the visual language and conventions that were known to the early photographers.

Now try to find some examples of landscape photographs from any era that conform to these conventions.

Collate your research and note down your reflections in your learning log

Conventions of 18th and 19th century landscape paintings

The genre of landscape painting was developed in Flanders and the Dutch painters developed this style to their advantage (image 4) and dominated and influenced other artists. This style is known as veduta and Canaletto successfully painted grand, large scale landscapes in this style for the tourist market of the wealthy embarking on their “Grand Tour” (image 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veduta .

Many 18th century landscape paintings are primarily in the Rococo style and is dominated by male artists. By the 19th century female artists were beginning to appear on the art scene (image 6).

The use of light and decorative French style developed in France and in reaction to the grandeur of the Baroque style which is characterised by great drama, rich, deep colour, and intense light and dark shadows. These influences can be clearly seen in the work of Constable, Turner and Friedrich (images 7, 9, 11).

Rococo on the other hand is much lighter and frivolous. Jean Antoine Watteau developed a new genre of painting called fêtes galantes, and depicted courtship parties (image 2) https://news.artnet.com/market/a-brief-history-of-rococo-art-32790 which influenced the Rococo style.

However, surprisingly it is Canelleto through his grand landscapes of traditions and atmospheric effects is thought to have influenced the development of the Impressionist movement of the 19th Century https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaletto (images 8,10).

The artists who became known as Impressionists moved away from the previous traditions of painting of the past taking their subjects from the present rather than the past, reflecting on society of the day and modern life (Adams S. 1989).

In conclusion. Although styles and influences change all of the artists employed the conventions and traditions of the early landscape artists. They used the building blocks of land, sea, sky and sea, depicting manicured or cultivated nature. If activity is not central to the image (images 5,7,9). They are all romantic, dramatic and many have dramatic large skies. All use light to increase the interest and appeal.

1. A Regatta on the Grand Canal (1740) Canaletto

2. Pilgrimage to Cythera (1718/1719) Jean-Antoine Watteau

3. Jedburgh Abbey from the River (1798-1799) John Girton

4.  View of Rhenen, c. 1640.  Jan van Goyen

5. Rural Landscape (1795) Thomas Hand

5. Wheatfields (1860) Jacob van Ruisdael

6. Field Beach, Stage Fort Park (1850) Mary Blood Mellen

7. Salisbury and Leadenhall from the River Avon (1820) John Constable

8. Le Pointe de la Hevre, Sainte- Addresse (1864) Claude Monet

9. Dido building Carthage, or The Rise of the Carthaginian Empire (1815) Joseph William Mallory Turner

10. A Wheatfield, with Cypresses (1889) Vincent van Gogh

11. A Wanderer above a Sea of Fog (1817-1818) David Casper Freidrich

Photographers using the traditions of landscape paintings

Image by Elizabeth Gadd

Elizabeth Gadd is a Canadian photographer and grew up surrounded by a beautiful landscape. She has captured this dreamy and peaceful shot which is reminiscent of the Freidrich image (image 11) in the Rococo style.

Image by Adrian Evans

This shot by Adrian Adams provides drama and romanticism and makes use of a dramatic sky in this shot. It is edited to mimic the texture and style of paintings.

Andrew S. Gray

Andrew is a Northumberland based photographer who produces images in the style of J.M.W. Turner. In doing so, like Turner he leaves it to the viewer to interpret the image.

Ansell Adams,

In this shot of Garnet Lake, California, Adams uses the dramatic sky and mountains which clearly conforms to the traditions of the landscape painters. His use of light reflecting on the snow covered mountain further increases the interest in the shot.

Faye Godwin

Like Adams, Faye Godwin makes use of the dramatic sky and the rolling hills to create drama. The path leads our eye to the sky and the light reflecting on the tarn increases our interest.

Alexandre Deschaumes

If it’s drama we are comparing Deschaumes has it in spades. His use of the building blocks of sky, land, water and cultivated nature together with the glimpse of the photographer himself all adds to the conventions of traditional landscape images.

References

Adams S. (1989) The World of the Impressionists London, Thames & Hudson Ltd.

Erica Trapasso, (2013) A Brief History of Rococo Art. Artnews (website) https://news.artnet.com/market/a-brief-history-of-rococo-art-32790 (accessed 7.10.19)

Wikipedia Venduta, (website) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veduta (accessed 9.10.19)

Wikipedia Canaletto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaletto (accessed 9.10.19)

Exercise 1.2: Photography in the museum or in the gallery?

Read Rosalind Krauss’s essay ‘Photography’s Discursive Spaces: Landscape/View’. Summarise Krauss’s key points in your learning log (in note form) and add any comments or reflections.

The essay was first published in 1982 in Art Journal Vol. 42, No. 4, pp. 311–19 but you’ll find it at: http://dm.postmediumcritique.org/Krauss_PhotographysDiscursiveSpaces.pdf

The essay starts with Krauss comparing two images the first a photograph of the Tufa Domes, Pyramid Lakes, Nevada, by Timothy O’Sullivan (1868), the second a lithograph of the same photograph produced for a geological magazine.

The discussion revolves around the analysis of the images.

• The first is described as a “dreamlike shot” where the rocks appear to be suspended and the way the sky and water meet “seamlessly”.  Krauss then goes on to summarise this analysis as “the beauty in the shoot is the opulent flattening of the space”.  This is clearly a subjective statement.
• On the other hand the lithograph is seen as having lost its “beauty” in the conversion and becomes “banal. The reason given for this is because the two images belong in different discursive spaces.
• The first is described as belonging to an aesthetic discourse and the lithograph to a geological and empirical science one.
• The reason given for the difference is the intended audience of the images.
• The photograph is taken with the intention of it being viewed within a gallery setting where the gallery wall becomes the signifier and the image itself becomes open to the viewers criticism.  Whereas, the lithograph is intended for an audience where the detail is the important element.
• The argument continues to reason this is why the lithograph has been altered and no longer has an aesthetic presence.
• Krauss then goes on to explain that the photographers of this period of the 19^th century develop quickly to “flatten” and “compress” space to give a more artistic appeal.
• Prior to 1860 goes the argument is that the photograph was seen as an accurate and represented a legitimate image of the scene.

It is true that during this period those images were often commissioned as part of surveys or for reference and it is difficult to classify them as art.  However, retrospectively many of the images taken during this period have now been viewed as art. For example Auguste Sander is known as a portrait and documentary photographer (1876-1964) but his work is often seen as artistic and O’Sullivan himself was employed by Clarence King (a geologist, mountaineer and author) on the United States Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel where King is particularly noted for his exploration of the Sierra Nevada. (Wikipedia) O’Sullivan as part of this survey also photographed Mining communities in Nevada (Trachtenberg A. 1990) so it begs the question whether or not he was deliberately being artistic when taking this first image or if in fact the lithograph is a better interpretation of the photographer’s intention. 

We can only guess at this but we do know that he went on to take a different type of photograph when was working in Asian and Eastern Landscapes that took on a new idea moving away from the traditions of landscape painting.  This is possibly what influenced the translation of the first image.

This now begs another question of the essay of whether this particular image can be seen as “art” when O’Sullivan hadn’t been practicing this type of photography for less than a year a view discussed by Krauss.

The work of Eugene Atget is also discussed in the essay. 

• His vast library was only discovered after his death.
• His work is now thought to be some of the best of the time.
• However, not all of his photos are of high quality and this along with why he took the images and revisited certain locations has been scrutinised but the reasons seem to have been lost with his death.
• There are arguments prevailing about whether his photography improved over time or whether he took better photographs for personal reasons rather than the ones he was commissioned for.

It is difficult to know the intention behind the photograph of the Tufa Domes other than it was taken as part of a geological survey.  However, it is clear by looking at other photographers work of the period that there was a move to produce images that were more aesthetic appealing than just a documentary record.

It is also easy to put a modern interpretation onto an image when the photographer is not around to explain any reasoning behind it.

References

Krauss R. (1982) Photography’s Discursive Spaces: Landscape/View’ Art Journal Vol. 42, No. 4, pp. 311–19 http://dm.postmediumcritique.org/Krauss_PhotographysDiscursiveSpaces.pdf (accessed 6.10.19)

Trachtenberg A. (1990) Reading American Photographs . New York, Hill & Wang

Wikipedia, T.H. O’Sullivan website https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_H._O%27Sullivan (accessed 6.10.19)

Exercise 1.1: Preconceptions

 

Exercise 1.1: Preconceptions

For this first exercise we ask you to completely abandon technique, pick up a pencil

and draw a very rough sketch of a ‘landscape’ picture. The purpose of this exercise is to examine and express your preconceptions about the genre. This exercise shouldn’t be laboured; don’t think too much about it but consider the following questions to help get you started:

• What shape is the picture?

• What sort of terrain is depicted?

• What’s in it? Are there people?

• How are the subjects arranged?

• How might you describe the ‘mood’ of the picture?

Annotate your sketch as necessary. If you’re reluctant to draw a sketch or diagram,

make a list or brainstorm your ideas.

Put your sketch in your learning log and reflect on why you’ve drawn what you have.

Consider what might have influenced your current understanding of the genre

(i.e. where you’ve seen the kind of imagery you’ve sketched – perhaps in galleries, magazines, or formal education), and any other factors such as your personal

circumstances or background. Also, write a few lines on why you chose to study this

course and what you hope to learn from it.

Although this might seem like a frivolous activity, it should get you thinking about traditions and conventions within landscape practice, and encourage you to consider why (and indeed whether) they exist. It will also serve as an interesting reference point when you come to the end of the course.

View from a window

This is my attempt at sketching the view from my office window. 

The shape of the picture is landscape and is half of the sash window. 

The terrain is a garden featuring a Metasequoia tree and a bird feeder with associated plants coming to the end of their summer life.

It does not contain people.

The mood of the picture is a one of flourishing plants in a well-stocked garden.

I researched artist including:

• Claude Monet – lots of flowers but there weren’t many in my garden in bloom at the time of the sketch.
• Paul Nash – a surrealist artist and I did consider that his straight lines might be more suited to my limited artistic skills
• Claude Lorain, Theodore Rouseau and Salomon van Rysdael all painted trees in great quantity and this gave me the idea of sketching the view from my office window.

I chose to do a sketch in the style of French artists Theodore Rouseau and Claude Lorain.  The sketch I actually did is more in the style of Rouseau because it contains no people and my bird feeder provided the scale that the cows in his composition do.

Paul Nash

Paul Nash’s Wood on the Downs (1930). Photograph: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections

Paul Nash’s Wood on the Downs (1930). Photograph: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collectionshttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/oct/14/from-english-woodlands-to-war-pioneering-paintings-of-paul-nash

Theodore Rouseau – https://www.meisterdrucke.uk/fine-art-prints/Pierre-Etienne-Theodore-Rousseau/228460/The-End-of-Autumn-.html

References

The Guardian website:  From English Woodlands to war: the pioneering paintings of Paul Nash https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/oct/14/from-english-woodlands-to-war-pioneering-paintings-of-paul-nash (accessed 4.20.19)

Meisterducke website:  The End of Autumn  Pierre Etienne Theodore Rouseau https://www.meisterdrucke.uk/fine-art-prints/Pierre-Etienne-Theodore-Rousseau/228460/The-End-of-Autumn-.html (accessed 4.20.19)

National Gallery website: Claude Monet – 1840 – 1926  https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/claude-monet (accessed 4.10.19)

National Gallery website: Salomon van Rysdael 1600/3? – 1670  https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/salomon-van-ruysdael (accessed 4.10.19)

National Galleries of Scotland website: Landscape with Apollo and the Muses  Claud Lorain https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/4760/landscape-apollo-and-muses  (accessed 4.10.19)