Landscape art

I read an interesting essay recently, and I really want to share the story and my understanding with you. In the essay, “Turner and the Barber’s Shop”, John Berger narrates the life and art of Joseph Mallord William Turner who is one of the most important artists in history. Turner was born in London, the son of a barber. “He was a child prodigy” and entered the Royal Academy Schools at fourteen (215). Next, He had his own studio at eighteen, and his father becomes the assistant and factotum. He…

the significant themes of Chinese landscape painting can find their origins within the various schools of thought that were dominant during the rise of this fascinating style. In an article published in The Art Bulletin in June of 1941, Alexander Soper created a rigorously detailed timeline of this phenomenon and attached to each artistic movement the particular belief system it could be identified with it. While the contents of the article, “Early Chinese Landscape Painting”, are vast and…

Thomas Cole who was considered a renowned painter and father of the Hudson River School of art wrote “American Scenery.” Within this piece he expressed his overall feelings about America and the importance of the sublime nature that surrounds us. Although his paintings could relay a story within themselves, Cole felt the need to further educate those who would listen. Through his work and one of his many paintings titled “The Oxbow” Cole expresses his view on having a deeper consideration for…

the fall of the French monarchy during the rise of Napoleon, Architectural Fantasy reflects the former works of Hubert Robert while also depicting a slight change in subject matter. Although the painting is of a building, it evokes qualities of a landscape painting with its broad views. Romantic paintings from this era were defined by their use of light and color to convey emotion. Another aspect of Romantic works was that the scenes were often glorified to depict a more beautiful and perfect…

Northumberland in 1789, an artist by the name of John Martin was born. During this time, the Biblical movement was in effect. Every piece of art, music, paintings, books were shaped by the ideas drawn from the Bible. Many artists were interested in recreating how they believed events in the Bible looked like. John Martin is one artist that creates panoramic landscape paintings inspired by these historical events. The ideas of Romanticism and Realism are expressed heavily in artwork during the…

In the year 1836, artist Thomas Cole created his masterpiece, “The Oxbow” with oil on canvas. His painting is one of many that showcase the transition in American Art History to one that idealized American Romanticism. Up until just a few years before this piece was painted, Americans sought to be like Europe and focused their art on Ancient Ruins and ladies with perfect faces. During this time America was so new and fresh yet settlers just burned and plowed through all vegetation. But they…

European Romanticism and the influence of Romantic ideas in the arts. European romanticists greatly loved nature and disdained technology, they glorified the rural way of living and believed poetry to be superior to the sciences. Out of the many famous artists at that time is Thomas Cole. Born in 1818 in Bolton, he is an English artist, who moved from Lancashire and settled in New York 1832. He is known for his famous American inspired landscape paintings and is considered the founder of the…

dull and shadowy grays and blues of the valley in the background. Overall, this shift gives the piece an atmospheric quality that holds true to how a person would actually perceive an impending storm. This realism makes it easier to envision the landscape scene and helps viewers develop feelings and emotions on subject matter. Hence, with Bierstadt’s realistic capture of depth and careful use of atmospheric perspective, he is able to transport people to this realistic scene so that they can…

Starting in the 1860s, the French Impressionism period was sparked by famous artists. Alfred Sisley, an original creator of French Impressionism, debuted with creating landscapes around the Argenteuil area. During the last two productive years of Alfred Sisley’s career, he began to paint paintings of the different environments of moret-sur-loing. Alfred Sisley’s A Turn of the River Loing uses natural colors, the circle of confusion technique, and detailed brushstrokes to create a realistic…

Every year at CMEA, we play set of three songs and there’s a specific pattern to the set. In the pattern of the set, the second song is usually a ballad. This year, our ballad for the set is Kindred Spirits, composed by Brian Balmages. Kindred Spirits was composed for the Browning family after Nicholas Browning had murdered his family on November 1st, 2008. His mother, father and two younger brothers, Gregory and Benjamin, were all shot by Nicholas and passed away. Gregory and Benjamin were both…