Context brings the brightest minds to your living room with perspective-shifting online lectures.
The Discovery of Landscape Paintings: From Cézanne to Constable with Alette Fleischer
For centuries, nature in art functioned solely as a backdrop of religious or historical scenes. This changed in the early seventeenth century when artists like Cuyp and Claude began to appreciate the landscape for itself. And it did not stop there… This conversation will explore the unearthing of landscape in art as we follow a select curation of landscape painters.
Up to the late sixteenth-century, painters created landscapes as sites where something took place. These were imagined landscapes, with strange rock formations, scattered shrubs, and undefined trees. These aspects formed the backdrop for “The Flight to Egypt”, “Tobias and the Angel”, or mythological/historical battle scenes. Paintings of landscapes were not valued by potential buyers, so a stand-alone landscape painting was not commercially interesting. Early seventeenth-century Dutch artists began to slowly diminish the biblical and heroical figures to give more attention to the landscape. We’ll learn about artists like Cuyp and Claude who actually began to study landscapes themselves. These drawings formed the foundation for a much more realistic scenery: the pastoral landscape.
We’ll discuss how along the way, the market began to appreciate landscape paintings and nature scenes became collectible as a separate subject matter. This conversation follows the landscape painters from Holland, to Italy and England and back to the continent: France and Germany. We’ll see a stylistic change and approach of nature in art, whereby a landscape appeared as mellow and soft, as romantic and calm, or as fierce and frightful. We’ll discuss how landscapes in painting might signify human’s shifting relationship to nature, including our attitude towards nature’s Creator.
Led by an expert on the seventeenth-century history of art and gardens, Alette Fleischer, this interactive seminar will examine the discovery of the landscape in art. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with an increased awareness of how we look at nature and our position towards landscapes (and the divine).
This seminar is followed by The Great American Landscape in 19th and 20th Century Art with Alette Fleischer but can be booked on its own or as part of the series.
Amsterdam-born Alette Fleischer has a degree in Art History and a PhD in 17th Dutch History, focusing on gardens, science, and technology. She has curated several exhibitions, publishes articles, presents lectures, and a proud Context Expert. For Context Travel, Alette has led the Rijksmuseum tours many times. Motto: staying curious is key for being a good historian.
This conversation is suitable for all ages.
90 minutes, including a 30 minute Q&A.
Ms. Fleisher always gracefully takes you into the details of each painting you see, presenting perspectives you normally would miss. This is especially true in her engaging history of landscape painting where the details are part of the story.
This was a delightful review of major works in the Western landscape tradition. Dr. Fleischer is knowledgeable and well organized, and she presents material in a very easy-to-follow manner. She also pointed out features I would have missed without her guidance.
Arlette gave a very good discussion of the topic, and her selection of works was excellent. When she presented the bonus slides, it was clear to see the themes that she had presented in her talk. She added to my understanding of this kind of art. She was also good at timing; just the right pace.
Informative and Informative. I will look at landscape paintings very differently after taking this seminar.
This seminar revealed aspects of the landscape genre I'd never known about, such as the political dimension. All expounded by an expert who shared her knowledge with clarity, enthusiasm, and generosity. Highly recommended - and I hope she brings out more seminars on the topic.