Landscape Lighting

Landscape Lighting

Stanford Robinson Gifford was an American artist in the 19th century where he became known for his romantic style landscape paintings. He was based in New York, and he studied at The Hudson River School, near his birthplace. While at the school, he studied light and its effects with a group of students known as Luminists. Unlike many of the artists at the school, Gifford chose to focus on how the landscape’s atmosphere is illuminated by the light. Many of his paintings feature a filmy light from the sun that unifies the whole landscape. Someone passing by this work is invited into the whole scene, rather than viewing a specific feature of the terrain. 

In the works below, notice how the artists differ in their use of light and its effects on the scenes. Gifford and Kensett use light to cover the whole landscape and submerge the viewer into the scene. Cole, on the other hand, uses light to emphasize specific features and create dynamic shadows. These artists created works of similar landscapes, but each brought their own style to create very different pieces. However, from each of these artists there is something the viewer can learn about the landscape and a subtle theme they may be trying to communicate through their use of light.

Stanford Robinson Gifford, A Gorge in the Mountains (Kauterskill Clove), 1862, Oil on canvas, 48 x 39 7/8 in., 15.30.62

Sanford Robinson Gifford, an American artist, completed the painting A Gorge in the Mountains (Kauterskill Clove) in 1862. As the title suggests, the artist depicts a landscape of a gorge, or valley,  surrounded by dense tree covered foothills with larger mountains rising in the distance. The rising sun bathes the entire valley in a yellow hue, highlighting the natural landscape. Hinting at a deeper meaning, the light covers the valley and invites the viewer into the land they are looking upon.

Stanford Robinson Gifford, Isola Bella in Lago Maggiore, 1871, Oil on canvas, 20 1/4 x 36in., 21.115.1

Gifford originally visited this lake in 1856, but returned 12 years later to craft his numerous paintings of the scene into his ideal vision. He believed this lake to be “the finest of all the Italian Lakes,” and said it was the “perfect day” when he was sketching the region. Mountains are in the background with the lake in the foreground. As the sun sets, it casts a translucent light over the scene, which creates a sort of glow. This illumination allows the viewer to focus on the scene as a whole rather than the mountains in the background.

John Frederick Kensett, Sunset, 1872, Oil on canvas, 18 x 30 in., 74.37

While this work is titled Sunset, it most likely represents a sunrise as the artist’s studio faced the Atlantic Ocean which is to the east. In this work, the artist captures the light that covers the whole plane. The atmosphere and the water each capture the transient light from the sun above. It is thought that the artist added the rock terrain in the foreground of the painting to help shape it, and it may not have been what he was actually looking at.

John William Casilear, Lake George, 1857, Oil on canvas, 20 5/16 x 29 7/8 in., 15.30.64

Painting a scene of the Adirondack mountains, the artist focuses on the effects of water and light. The water is very still and calm, the mountains sit quietly in the distance, and the trees and rocks reach into the foreground. While the rocks and trees are in the foreground of the painting, the way the light is gently cast over the painting unifies the scene. The water and the sky seem to be one, reflecting a quiet day.

John Frederick Kensett, Hudson River Scene, 1857, Oil on canvas, 32 x 48 in., 07.162

Kensett was part of the Hudson River School artists, and this was a common site where many of them spent time painting. The river divides mountains to the right and left and the sun casts a light over the whole scene but shadows create a contrast in the landscape. The light barely reaches the trees nestled in the foothills, but far in the distance where the river runs, the sunlight covers the space. The contrast with dark and light, split by the river, also provides feelings of angst and peace, similar to Cole’s The Oxbow.

Thomas Cole, View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow , 1836 , Oil on canvas , 51 1/2 x 76 in., 08.228

This painting by Thomas Cole is known for the juxtapositions it creates. He was responding to people’s criticisms that Americans were not attentive to the landscape around them, so his painting displays the uniqueness and magnificence that Cole saw around him. The painting seems to be split by a diagonal line where there is wilderness to the left and a calm settlement and winding river to the right. The rolling storm clouds create a darkness that speaks to how things are not tame, while the light is peaceful on the side that has been developed. We see Cole thinking through the questions of the day where some are pushing to pursue a Jeffersonian ideal of cultivated land and wilderness or a Jacksonian ideal of manifest destiny.