Landscape Pictures

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Landscape Pictures,

The landscape picture has become so prevalent these days that it is easy to think of it as a universal, even timeless form.  What could be more natural, after all, than gazing upon a gorgeous natural landscape?  It is hardly surprising that humans would attempt to represent such beautiful scenes through whatever visual medium available to them—be it pencil, paint or photography.  Deeper investigation reveals, however, that not only is the concept of a landscape picture not timeless, but that even the notion of “landscape” itself is a relatively new concept in the history of human art.

The first usage of the word “landscape,” as we understand it, dates only to the sixteenth century and was previously a Dutch word meaning “a tract of land.”  In this sense, “landscape” implied ownership, rather than awe or aesthetic value.  The concept of the landscape picture—that is, a work of art that presents natural space as the foreground, rather than the background of human activity—was actually pioneered by the Chinese.

The landscape picture first appeared, in terms of world art history, during the Song dynasty. Zhan Ziqian’s Spring Excursion is generally considered the oldest surviving work of a landscape picture.  Like most cultures worldwide, Chinese art up to this point had focused on groups, figures and animals.  Land and water, if they appeared at all, were represented by cursory outlines that composed the backdrop of the central activity or activities presented in the work.  In the 14^th century, then, when the elements of the background began moving closer to viewer and inhabiting more space on the canvas, a new form a painting was born.  In Chinese, they called it shan-shui, meaning literally “mountains and water.”

Presenting a vast three-dimensional landscape on a two dimensional canvas, however, was hardly a straightforward matter.  Dong Qichang, critiquing the landscape pictures of his age, divided them into two distinct styles: the Northern, or Academic style; and the Southern, or Literary style.  The technique of the Northern style was developed first, and was known as gonbi.  This style was characterized by supple brushstrokes culminating in a firm general appearance, and clearly prefigures the later development of Western realism.  The Southern style, on the other hand, practiced what they described as xieyi, meaning “to write ideas.”  With its ephemeral overall form, this style seemed to foreshadow the eventual development of Impressionist landscape painting.

Digital Picture Printing and Frames offers a wide selection of landscape pictures from diverse eras and countries. We offer some of the most breathtaking landscape pictures in the history of American art, such as works from the Hudson River School.  This group of painters in the mid-nineteenth century focused primarily on landscape pictures of the American frontier.  Their reverence for nature was strongly connected to a belief, popular at the time, that its study would lead to moral development.  We also have many landscape works by Renaissance and Impressionist painters, whose approach, though different, still reflects a deep appreciation of natural beauty in all its various forms.

Aaron J. Lozier, 2004