Landscape Art: A Brief Overview
Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent composition.
Typically, paintings of landscapes will focus only on the natural aspects of a scene and are commonly devoid of human and animal depictions. The focus of any landscape painting is the land or environment that an artist finds themself in. This could be a dense forest, a sunset scene, or a wispy formation of clouds.
In general, there are three different types of landscape art. These sometimes overlap because there aren't many firm rules when it comes to art and creativity!
Impressionistic Landscape Paintings
Impressionistic” paintings are a more modern form of earlier Impressionist art that became popular in the 1860s.
This art style is popular in landscapes because it makes it possible for artists to emote using colour saturation, lighting, focus, and manipulation of the scene as necessary.
Impressionistic landscape artists accentuate the natural scenery with more feeling, which encourages individuals to experience each artwork with an emotional charge. This unique form of landscape painting allows the artist to take more creative expressions with the natural beauty around them.
Representational Landscape Paintings
Artists reproduce a natural environment or landscape with minor changes while still maintaining a more traditional representational landscape style of painting.
The artist may use multiple mediums to portray representations of each aspect of the final piece of art, but ultimately, the art depicts a realistic expression of the theme.
In essence, the representational style of landscape paintings is a literal translation of the natural environment onto a canvas or paper.
Abstract Landscape Paintings
A form of modern art that allows the landscape artist to alter or hyperfocus on the defining elements of the environment. Abstract landscapes are a stark contrast to realistic and representational landscapes.
Abstract types of landscape paintings can include Cubism, line art, color blocking, halftones, and pointillism or pop art effects.
Much like the landscape of our world has entirely transformed, the nature of landscape art has evolved dramatically over the centuries. From unacknowledged as a genre to becoming the key subject of some of the world’s most recognizable paintings, landscape painting is much more than just a pretty picture.
Landscape paintings seem as intrinsic to the identity of Canada as they have ever been, and this will likely continue to be the case.