Landscape and nature painting

Landscape and nature paintings depict natural scenery in art. These paintings would typically include plains, land mass, mountains, fields, forest, mountains, water bodies and other such elements. They may or may not include people or structures. Although the origin of landscape paintings can be traced as early as the first century AD, it was not until the Renaissance period in the 16th century, that landscape became part of mainstream art in the Western tradition. Khula Aasmaan international free online art contest has landscape as an art contest theme. Let us have a look at how landscape art has evolved.

The Romantic Landscape

The landscape artists of the 19th century were part of the Romantic movement with passion and drama as the hallmark of their paintings. Landscape art became an important genre in Europe as well as the United States. John Constable and J.M.W. Turner emerged as the leading lights of landscape painting in England. Both were masters in painting the finer aspects of the weather and the atmosphere. John Constable painted the English countryside in a realistic fashion, whereas J.M.W. Turner painted seascapes in an almost abstract style in the later part of his career.

The Impressionist Landscape Painting

The impressionist artists preferred to paint their expression in a subjective manner, rather than the realistic ways of the Romantic movement. Well known artists from this era included Monet, Pissarro, Renoir and others who were masters of brushwork and unique use of colour and sketchy application of paint. Their stellar work left a lasting influence over several generations of artists including post impressionist artists such as Paul Cezanne, Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and others. The post impressionist era marked the rise of Neo-Impressionism, which was spearheaded by Georges Seurat. These artists used pointillism, a technique in which numerous dots of colours blend to create harmony.

Modernism and abstract landscapes

The early part of the 20th century saw artists like Henri Matisse who applied colours directly from their tubes of paint onto the canvas. Artists like Matisse used colour more as an expression rather than as a tool to capture elements of nature. In Germany artists such as Kandinsky believed in the emotional power of colour and spiritual value of their work.

The next set of artists who embraced cubism drew inspiration from post-impressionist Cezanne, to create geometric landscapes. Surrealism started trending in Paris in the 1920s. The surrealist painters used a combination of natural and imagined worlds. The most iconic of the surrealistic paintings is The Persistence of Memory (1931) by Salvador Dalí.

One of the best known woman American painters of the 20th century has been Georgia O’Keefe who painted a large body of landscapes.

Landscape and nature painting as art contest theme

Landscape as an art contest theme is an important theme for Khula Aasmaan international online art contest. At Khula Aasmaan, we receive a large number of landscape and nature paintings as entries to our contest.

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