How do landscape paintings reflect nationalism? While this question deserves and requires a large amount of research and discussion, we will focus on a specific time period in this discussion. Landscape paintings are like a window into a country's nationalism. As much as a painting may try to be apolitical, there is always a way to connect and relate the content depicted back to the status of a nation, whether that be politically, economically, agriculturally, recreationally, culturally, or religiously. Although sometimes our judgment of nationalism can be untrue, overanalyzed, or fantasy, we still can decipher the meaning of landscape art concerning its time. Hence, I will be asking a more specific and focused question: What are some similarities and differences between Bierstadt's method of painting landscapes in comparison to Dutch landscapes from the same period?
Albert Bierstadt was a German-born American painter who was one of the last generations of painters who trained through the esteemed Hudson River School. In the period that Albert Bierstadt painted The Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak, which is a 73 1⁄2 x 120 3⁄4 in. oil on canvas painting completed in 1863, there was pressure to show the public what beauties and riches the West held in its large expanse. Bierstadt uses space to give the illusion of depth, value to show detail, and form to unite the piece as a whole. How are Dutch paintings from the same time period similar to Bierstadt? How are they different? What representation of nationalism do we see? What did Bierstadt portray about the West during the time of this piece? Below are paintings by Dutch artists who each display distinctly different styles, perspectives, subjects, materials, and forms that are consistent with their views of Dutch landscape.
Barend Cornelis Koekkoek, Sunset on the Rhine, 1853, Oil on canvas, 32 1/4 x 42 3/8 in. (81.9 x 107.6 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436827
This oil on canvas painting is a depiction of a countryside either in the growing warmth of the rising sun or the fading golden hues of a sunset. There are rocks and trees in the foreground, along with a twisting path in the center that winds into the background. A small caravan of people and horses is featured centrally, and we see another group traveling toward the town farther down the path. In the middle ground, we see a castle-like building and a town that fades into the background. Birds soar overhead in fluffy clouds, and mountains tower in the background. On the right side in the mid to the background, we see a river that cradles boats in its blue arms. This painting of the Rhine River emphasizes travel and exploration. While there is development shown, such as boats, buildings, and humans, nature is still the main focus. The bright day is pleasant and dreamy, and the land is fertile and thriving. Koekkoek uses form to create unity and balance, and in doing so he emphasizes the natural beauty of the Netherlands,
while also showing the fruit of development by painting paths, structures, and ships.
Anton Mauve, The Return to the Fold, Unknown, Oil on canvas, 19 3/4 x 33 7/8 in. (50.2 x 86 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437042
Mauve was fond of painting shepherds with their flocks, and we see such an example in this oil on canvas painting. Mauve paints a moody and gray scene that features a shepherd armed with a gun, a herding dog, a couple of dozen sheep, and an open agricultural field. The overall color scheme is dull and dreary with subtle differences in shades of gray and beige that vary in warm and cool tones. Mauve painted from local landscapes around Holland, portraying the seemingly mundane and real world around him. This painting is realistic. Mauve is painting from life, a place he knew, a place he stood, and a place he observed. Mauve does not create, make up, or compile a scene as Bierstadt does, rather, he translates what he sees into a piece of art on a canvas. This shows an everyday experience for a shepherd in Holland, simply leading his sheep through flat, tilled land, into the gray beyond. Mauve does not glorify the shepherd by placing him in a convenient, dynamic pose, and he does not glorify light by making up a hierarchy of dramatic tenebrosity, nor does he copy and paste other pieces of landscape from other places. He simply paints what he sees. This is a reflection of the day in the life of the Dutch working class; a
humble shepherd traversing the gray farmland of Holland.
Vincent Van Gogh, Wheat Field with Cypresses, 1889, Oil on canvas, 28 7/8 x 36 ¾ in. (73.2 x 93.4 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436535?when=A.D.+1800-1900&where=Netherlands&showOnly=openAccess&ft=Dutch+landscapes+1800s&offset=0&rpp=40&pos=1
In Vincent Van Gogh’s, Wheat Field with Cypresses, we see a new approach to landscape art. Loose, flowing brushstrokes depict an impression of bright terrain. There is the powerful presence of lines as our eyes pick up diagonals, sharp triangles, and winding curves. Van Gogh’s usage of line creates a delightful complimentary relationship with both nature and balance. The colors in this piece are cheery, sunny, buttery, and natural. This interpretation of a Dutch countryside in June is pleasant and relaxing to our eyes, and familiarity is encountered. We may hear the rustle of leaves in wind, smell the fresh, earthy air around us, feel the tickle of tall grass whispering against our legs, and see the clouds shift and float in the bright blue above. Van Gogh painted this piece onsite, which makes it stylized realism or impression. This terrain is how Van Gogh viewed it, and he shows us his vision by freezing this moment in time into a painting. While Van Gogh’s Wheat Field with Cypresses may be impressionistic, he still achieves a feeling of realism. Van Gogh similarly provides his viewers with familiarity, even though the style may be quite different (realism vs. impressionism), we still recognize the landscape. We see a statement made about the beauty of the natural land of the Netherlands that Van Gogh communicates excellently.
Jacob Maris, Dutch Canal, Rijswijk, second half of 19th century, watercolor over traces of black chalk, Sheet: 16 1/16 x19 1/6 in.(40.8 x 48.4 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/343144?when=A.D.+1800-1900&where=Netherlands&showOnly=openAccess&ft=*&offset=40&rpp=40&pos=63
Jacob Maris was a venerated artist of the Hague School. Here he painted a view of the city of Rijswijk in the Netherlands as people go about their everyday. We see small windows of blue peeking through the melted fluff of light gray clouds in the sweeping sky above the small town. Birds fly over little buildings on the right-hand side of the painting, and a bridge cuts through the center in a pleasantly parallel fashion. On the left, we see a Dutch woman balancing a water-carrying pole as she walks up a slight incline toward the town. We also see a man resting his arms on the bridge railing, peering nonchalantly down at a man in a longboat drifting down a small canal. While this painting may not be oil paint, we can still see clearly what Maris wants us to see. He emphasizes the sky, the bridge connecting both sides of the town over a dividing canal, and the commoners who mill about on a normal day. Maris shows an ordinary perspective of this small town. It is real, relatable, sensical, and true. This painting reflects the working-class locals who go about life in the Netherlands working for their pay, living in small towns such as Rijswijk.
Lodewijk Johannes Kleijn, Winter Landscape With Frozen River, 19th century, watercolor, framing line in graphite, sheet: 7 11/16 x 10 9/16 in. (19.5 x 26.8 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/384597?when=A.D.+1800-1900&where=Netherlands&showOnly=openAccess&ft=*&offset=120&rpp=40&pos=141
This painting by Lodewijk Johannes Kleijn, we see the perspective of the Netherlands from a more recreational side. The land here is developed, a depiction of Dutch inhabitance. This painting is bright and glowing, and we can clearly see it is cold and snowy. There is a large amount of gray, cloudy, sky that makes up the top half of the piece. On the left-hand side we see the frozen river receding into a deep and distant icy horizon. We also see a boat locked into the ice by the rigid freeze as a couple of men seem to be moving objects around on the ground next to it. On the right-hand side we see the bank of the river where some buildings and a tall windmill sit under caps of white snow. We see a a male and female couple dressed in warm clothes stopped on the ice conversing with a man and his dog. In the foreground we see two large tree trunks cut equally, laying in a bed of snow, slowly disappearing into the white powder. This painting conveys relaxation and peace. We are invited into the distant lives of the people and town that Kleijn painted, and we see that the snowy day is restful and somehow cheerful in the midst of a freeze. Here Kleijn beautifully shows a moment, a moment where people are simply living their lives on a normal, snowy day.
No comments:
Post a Comment