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American artists love to draw landscapes. Think of how many different and wonderful types of landscape there are in the vast lands of America. From lush mountain vistas to sandy deserts; from ocean views to flat plains; from snow-capped mountains to tropical scenes. The variety of opportunities to paint landscapes seemingly never ends in America.
In the very early days of this country, landscape paintings were simple topographic illustrations of local farmlands, small towns and landmarks. These were painted for use by local area residents or for European traders who wanted to venture into the "new world."
During colonial times, landscapes were not painted for their own sake. They were just the background for portraits and they helped to tell the story of the person being painted. A gentleman fortunate enough to own land might be shown in front of vast acres of his farmland. A wealthy woman might be shown in front of her magnificent home.
These background landscapes gave clues to the stature of the person in the painting.
In the 1820s, landscape painting became the dominant art form in America. With so many immigrants coming to this country and finding the unspoiled wilderness, there was limitless opportunity to paint new sites.
One young artist of the times, Thomas Cole, is now regarded as the founder of the Hudson River school of art. This was a loosely knit group of artists in America who painted landscapes between 1825 1875. These artists helped to give America its "face" to the world, capturing the distinctly American identity and investing the sense of future prosperity under the watchful eye of God into the work.
The Hudson school artist believed that if he studied the land in all its nuance, he would become enlightened and gain a true spiritual connection with divine harmony. These artists were interested in every detail from the moss on rocks to the snow drifts in the mountains.
Other artists were not so enthused about all this detail in what America looked like. To them, it was more important to show images of religious and moral beliefs. They created what is now called Allegorical Landscape, imaginary scenes that have symbolic meaning. These artists were completely uninterested in realistic representation of a particular place. These new works, often inspired by something in literature, generally were paintings about history.
With the advent of industrial development and its movement westward in the country, landscape artists found that they were painting pictures of a disappearing landscape. Hence, these paintings are a historical chronology of the times and treasured for the story of modernization they tell.
One artist, George Inness, was commissioned by a railroad company to paint "The Lackawanna Valley." His finished work portrays the railroad features as well as the surrounding landscape that was destroyed as a result of the building of the rail. The picture tells two tales one of modernization, the other of destruction, and reminds us of the price Americans paid for progress.
In the mid 1800's, adventurous artists took dangerous trips to paint some of the far reaching corners of America. These artists became famous on the east coast for their painting of the American west because they were showing images never before seen.
One artist, George Catlin, painted the indigenous people of the Americas. Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran painted large panoramic landscape views and showed much about the way life for the westerners represented in an almost life-like size. As a result of the American West paintings of Moran, Yellowstone Park was established in 1872.
Over time, the huge landscapes faded from popularity and more intimate paintings became appreciated. At the turn of the century, in the 1900s, Winslow Homer, a great American artist, was specializing in outdoor scenes of rural American life.
American impressionists were studying how best to use light and atmosphere to enhance their landscapes and they changed the tightly constructed look of paintings to more loose brushwork and subtle tones. "Mood" was very important in these paintings.
On the east coast, New York artists became interested in painting the reality of urban street life. These paintings, part of the Ashcan school of art, were supposed to portray the grim reality of city life and they were used to foster social change, thus introducing social commentary into art. Edward Hopper was an artist who used social commentary to portray the isolation of American society between the World Wars.
A group of artists known as the Regionalist Painters, working in the Midwest in the 1930s, were interested in uniquely American activities such as labor and the lifestyle of rural Americans.
Abstract artists in the twentieth century had their own ideas about landscapes. Their work was based on cubism and expressionism, learned from European artists, and they brought a new technique to the style. Artists like Georgia O'Keeffe used a unique form of organic abstraction to create simple, yet dramatic works.
Gestural painting, part of the abstract expressionist movement, used a combination of color and texture to inspire thoughts of landscape, sometimes with a few recognizable places inserted into the painting.
No matter the subject or the style of painting, America inspires many different varieties of landscapes. These paintings, put into simple picture frames, or adorning an entire wall as a large mural, make for a fascinating history of the country.
About the author
Stefanie Spikell is a writer and artist who excels in watercolor, mosaic and acrylicpaintings. Stefanie writes for a1paintings.com and other business and art websites.
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