The Landscape in Art
Case Study 1
HSC theory
The Penal Colony
On arrival, the Europeans considered the Australian landscape as particularly unusual. The plants, the animals and so forth were alien to them. The artists’ role was to document the new land, however as English trained artists’, this was very challenging for them. Artists were often convicts, who were previously trained artists.
Sydney Cove Thomas Watling 1794
“Painters were not able to reconcile what they were seeing with what they were taught”. (In Our Image, p.12)
The Colonial Period 1819-50
John Glover, a well established British artist emigrated to Australia and began to capture the true qualities of the Australian landscape. However his European training can be see in the way he composes the elements in his artworks such as the trees that frame the work in this work.
The River Nile, Van Diemen’s Land from Mr. Glover’s Farm 1837 John Glover
Eureka
With the discovery of gold in 1851, there was a boom in economic activity and growth, leading to developments in the artworld. The boom encouraged many to emigrate and amongst these were some well established artists who chose to focus on qualities within the landscape.
The artist Samuel Thomas Gill chose to depict colonial life as illustrated in “The Gold Rush”. Louis Bouvelot brought with him a big change in his painting technique which was to paint “in the open air”, commonly known as “plein air”. Although still influenced by his training, he paid attention to analysis of colours and the Australian light. He is known as “..the father of Australian landscape..”
The New Rush 1863 S.T.Gill
Yarra Valley, Melbourne 1866 Louis Buvelot
The Search for Identity 1880-1901
This period saw massive social and economic improvements in Australia and with it developed a nationalist sentiment which can be see in artists’ representations.
The group of painters led by Tom Roberts wanted to break free from traditional painting, with the aim of developing an all Australian school of landscape painting.
Tom Roberts developed the technique of “plein air” using a spontaneous and thick use of brushwork.
The Sunny South 1887 Tom Roberts
Federation and Art Nouveau 1902-10
Despite the Federation festivities, people were slow to enthuse due to the long drought and depression of the 1890’s. Artists’ felt inspired to depict the landscape through a romantic gaze, with David Davies exploring the “soul” or spirit of the land. The Art Nouveau movement developed in England and then spread to Europe, America and Australia. However Art Nouveau did not prove popular with many artists and consequently died out in the mid-1920’s.
Spirit of the Plains 1897 Sydney Long
Australians Abroad 1911-20
Most young artists were encouraged to go to Europe to further their artistic careers and mix with the culturally rich environment, due Australians casual approach towards art.
John Peter Russell is one of the finest Australian artists to become a significant figure in France. He mixed with the likes of Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec and Henri Matisse. Owing to the great distance between Paris and Australia, Russell’s work was best known in France and he later returned to Sydney where he died a relatively unknown artist.
Paysannes a Monte Cassino 1886 John Russell
Women Artists and Modernism 1913-40
People shared great feelings of optimism during this period, as the war had finished and generally life was improving. The number of women artists grew significantly due to the growing female workforce and the struggle for equal rights. Women were responsible for introducing modern painting into Australian art, with Grace Crowley introducing Cubism. Another significant artist was Margaret Preston who was one of the earliest artists to use the images and symbols of Aboriginal art without oversimplifying them to suit Western taste.
Girl with Goats 1928 Grace Crowley
Flying over the Shoalhaven River 1942 Margaret Preston
The Dark Years and the Depression 1933-50
The great depression and the outbreak of war illustrated a new wave of artistic thought where the social realists felt that art affected society and that art could even change the world. The social realists were concerned in particular with the effects on Australians of the war, the Spanish Civil War and the Depression.
Arthur Boyd illustrates the anger he felt towards the horrors of war, depicting scenes of horror, barbarism and twentieth century sophistication. How does this image make you feel?
Melbourne Burning 1920 Arthur Boyd
Figurative vs Abstract 1951-60s
Representational artists struggled against the rising trend of abstract art apparent for this time. Until this time Australian landscape painters had almost concerned themselves with the attractive side of nature. The art of Russell Drysdale changed the way Australians saw their country.
The image is influenced by Surrealism and uses predominantly the colour black within the shadows and rock formations. The rock and uprooted tree almost look to be made out of bones and skeletal remains. The use of scale also add to the uneasiness represented within the artwork.
The Rabbiters 1947 Russell Drysdale
Contemporary Art
The 60’s and 70’s witnessed a mixed bag of styles, mostly international in origin. These were Colour Painting, Op Art, Pop Art, Minimalism, Conceptualism and Photo-Realism. Fred Morris changed the way people look at the landscape. His artworks are characterised by ochre ground, high horizon line and luscious swirls of curved daubs of paint, they became the new vision of the landscape. Olsen’s landscapes are very linear in style, in fact you could almost describe them as roadmaps. In this image, Olsen explores the land from many different perspectives , from afar and from an ant’s view…”
Upwey Landscape 1965 Fred Williams
Journey into the You Beaut Country John Olsen 1961
European Landscape Artists
Joseph Turner
The metaphor is used to pictorially paraphrase something for which one either lacks the words or is disinclined to use the common name. Instead of merely recording factually what he saw, Turner translated scenes into a lightfilled expression of his own romantic feelings.
Ulysses Turner
Mark Chagall
The use of symbolic images was inherent in his Jewish heritage…He translated these into visual metaphors, flights of fancy unbounded by the laws of logic or gravity.
Quai de Bercy 1954
Vincent Van Gogh
The Starry Night vibrates with rockets of burning yellow while planets gyrate like cartwheels. The hills quake and heave, yet the cosmic gold fireworks that swirl against the blue sky are somehow restful.
Van Gogh painted Starry Night while in an Asylum at Saint-Remy in 1889.
Art historians have speculated about the painting's origin over the years; theories include: a rewriting of the Bible (Genesis or Revelations), a result of his deteriorating mental state, a result of Emile Zola's writings or a visual interpretation of Walt Whitman's poetry.
“I think a lot of things were going through his mind. He expresses many feelings - happy, sad, disturbed, mad, and peaceful. He sees the world coming together in peace and harmony. It seems nothing will happen. All is good. I think it means all should come together and be peaceful.” Michelle. Keystone Central School District