Assess Changes In Perceptions Of Landscape Which Are Evident In The Paintings Of European Artists In The Late Eighteenth And Early Nineteenth Century.

As landscapes are visually appealing and are best understood when physically observed, it only seems logical to analyse the changing perceptions of landscapes through the medium of paintings. Due to the fact that cameras were not invented and utilised until the mid to late nineteenth century, paintings were the most accurate representation of images captured at a precise moment in time. Unfortunately, this question is too broad as it does not specify a definite landscape and instead tackles a vast area. Therefore, it seems obvious to focus on one landscape and examine a specific territory. It is clear that between the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, Britain s landscape changed dramatically. Professor W. G. Hoskins reiterates this debate as he wrote, the English landscape itself is the richest historical record we possess. It seems that these changes can be broken down into three key elements. Firstly, the indisputable reliance man had on nature, for example, a large tree giving man shelter, seen in the major landscape painter , Thomas Gainsborough s painting Landscape with Gypsies (1753-54). However, this dependence is seen more clearly in his later work, The Harvest Wagon (1767) , as this piece encompasses nature s assistance to man to a greater extent. The second element is arguably the first major shift to modernization, seen within William Turner s painting, Dudley (1830). This painting encapsulates the change in perception from the romanticism of the British country to the destruction of the cities due to the introduction of industrialisation, a phrase coined by Arnold Toynbee, describing the gradual rather than the revolutionary nature of nineteenth-century economic change. Moreover, the third element is the move towards the sublime theory, highlighting the prominence of nature s beauty. James Ward s piece, Gordale Scar demonstrates this theory perfectly, using paint to hint at the terrifying and awesome`, signifying the true majesty of nature. This movement created during Turner s legacy, demonstrates the love humans possess for landscapes, as it seems man is more reliant on nature, than nature is on man. It is interesting to question why between the periods of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century there was this aversion to nature s beauty and a desire to destroy it during industrialisation. This can simply be assessed as the greed of the increasing British Empire overriding their love for landscapes, giving an explanation for this change in perception.