Origins of the Art Museum

It is hard for me to imagine a world without art museums, but they are in fact a fairly modern concept.  Most art collections were either owned by royalty or the extremely wealthy and were not available to the general public.  July 14 is Bastille Day, the day that the French Revolution began in 1789.  The enormous Louvre palace, which was only one of King Louis XVI's palaces, contained a vast royal art collection: thousands of paintings, drawings, sculptures and decorative arts from across the globe and dating back centuries.  This was turned into a public art museum less than one month after the French Revolution began, making it one of the earliest art museums.  However the Art Academy had been located in the Louvre for approximately a century prior and displayed art publicly at the annual Salons.  Today the Louvre is one of the largest art museums in the world. 

View of the Grand Gallery of the Louvre, Hubert Robert, 1796, Louvre

However the Louvre wasn’t the first art museum that was open to the public. There were at least two in the 17^th century, the Kunstmuseum Basel in Switzerland, originally a private collection, opened to the public in 1671 and the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University opened in 1683 as the first university art museum, though both were considerably smaller in size than the Louvre. 

Before the 20th century art museums looked quite different then today's museums.  Notice the cluttered layouts of art in the two paintings, museums walls were absolutely packed with art hung in what is today known as the "salon style" layout, hung in several horizontal rows.  Some items would have been identified for the viewer but not all, and it was much harder for the viewer to appreciate an individual painting.

The Tribuna of the Uffizi, Johann Zoffany, 1772-78, Royal Collection,Windsor Castle

In Florence, Italy the administrative offices of the ruling Medici family in would later become the Uffizi (the word for offices in Italian) which contained their large private art collection.

In the 16^th century the artist and architect Buontalenti designed the first gallery in the building, the Tribuna of the Uffizi.  The gallery had been open to visitors by request  and was considered a highlight of the Grand Tour, the trip taken by aristocrats through continental Europe.  This contained many famous Renaissance paintings and ancient sculptures.  The well known painting by Zoffany, The Tribuna of the Uffizi (above) shows how the gallery looked at the time and included portraits of the actual visitors.  He painted this work for the King and Queen of England since they were unable to visit and see it for themselves.  It is an interesting work which contains paintings within a painting.  In 1765 after the Medici family was no longer in power, the entire building was opened to the public as a state art museum, the Uffizi Gallery.

Laocoön, Roman copy from 1st c. AD after 2nd c. BC Hellenistic original, Vatican Museums

Another prototype of an art museum which was visited on the Grand Tour was the Pio-Clementino Vatican museum which opened in 1771.  This was the joint project of two Popes: Clement XIV and Pius VI (which is why it was named Pio-Clementino).  The work housed in this museum had been collected since Pope Julius II first purchased the Laocoön sculpture after it was uncovered in 1506 (I discussed that sculpture in a post last week).  The Pio-Clementino also housed several other famous Greco-Roman sculptures including Apollo Belvedere and Sleeping Ariadne as well as many Renaissance paintings.  Later the Pio-Clementino expanded to the current Vatican Museums (follow the link to learn more of the history on their website).

Another important early museum was the British Museum in London, which opened to the public in 1759. This was the personal collection of archaeological artifacts of Sir Hans Sloane.  When it opened it was both an art museum and a library and also contained many important items pertaining to science, history and anthropology. All of these museums still exist today, and along with thousands of others they continue to enrich our lives with art.

Brunelleschi, Ghiberti and the Beginnings of the Renaissance

The story of the rivalry between Filippo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti and the creation of the Gates of Paradise is also the story of the beginning of the Renaissance in Florence and it unfolded in an interesting way.  Each of the works here are among my favorites and will be discussed in more detail in future posts.

In the 1300’s or “Trecento” the artist Giotto had introduced ideas of humanism and realism to painting.  He was also appointed head architect for the Santa Maria del Fiori, the main cathedral of the city.  Giotto designed and began work on the campanile (bell tower), which is a separate building.

"Il Duomo" Santa Maria del Fiore, dome by Brunelleschi, 1420-1436

However Giotto died in 1337 and was replaced by his assistant, Andrea Pisano.  Due to war in Europe, an uprising in Florence and plagues there were far fewer artistic works being created in the city.  The main cathedral “Il Duomo” was left without the dome that was envisioned for it.

Florence was a republic and ruled by its guilds, the most prestigious guild was the Calimala (wool merchants).  In a building separate from the duomo is the Baptistery, which had great significance for Florence as St. John is the city’s patron saint.  The Calimala were in charge of all artistic decoration for the Baptistery.  Andrea Pisano had constructed a set of doors with 28 small bronze panels which was considered a masterpiece.  The doors were hung on the east side of the building which faced the duomo.

Abraham's Sacrifice of Isaac, competition panel, Lorenzo Ghiberti 1401 (Bargello)

In 1401 the Calimala decided to commission a 2^nd set of doors for the north side of the building and held a competition.  Artists had to create one bronze panel with the theme of the Sacrifice of Isaac.  Lorenzo Ghiberti won the contest and began work on the doors which lasted for the over twenty years.

Last Supper, panel from north baptistery doors, Ghiberti, 1425-52

Filippo Brunelleschi was another participant in the contest, it is unclear whether he was not chosen or was chosen to work as a partner with his rival Ghiberti.  Their two entries alone were saved and remain on display to this day, over 600 years later at the Bargello Museum in Florence.  Either way Brunelleschi was upset that he wasn’t chosen as the clear winner and decided to go to Rome and take his friend the sculptor Donatello with him.  They studied classical Roman architecture and sculpture for several years in Rome.

Brunelleschi returned to Florence and entered another competition, to build the dome of the duomo and this time he won, however Ghiberti was also given roles to assist with this task.  Brunelleschi had studied the dome of the Pantheon and was influenced by it.  He designed a structure that used a dome within a dome to support its massive weight.  Constructing the dome was an arduous task but his plans worked and the dome was constructed fairly quickly.

The Tribute Money, Masaccio, 1425 (Santa Maria del Carmine)

Brunelleschi also did several studies in drawing to determine the method of perspective in painting that the ancients used.  He made a painting of the Baptistery using perspective and put a small hole in the center.  If a person stood behind the painting with their back to the Baptistery and looked through the hole, Brunelleschi would hold up a mirror and the viewer would see reflected how the actual building matched the painted one.  This was written about but sadly the painting has been lost.

The effect this had on artwork was immediate as can be seen in Masaccio’s fresco cycle of the life of St. Peter.  Artists now used a single vanishing point that all lines in the painting could be followed to for an extremely realistic depiction of three dimensional space.

Joseph, panel from east baptistery doors, Ghiberti, 1425-52 (Museo Opera di S. Maria del Fiore)

Even Brunelleschi’s rival Ghiberti began to use perspective in his work.  He was commissioned by the Calimala to create one final set of doors and he proposed his own design with 10 large bronze panels instead of 28 small ones.  The Calimala accepted his proposal and in creating sculptural reliefs in a new larger format began to use a new artistic style.

Compare the panel of Jospeh to the earlier Last Supper, the new larger panels are very shallow bronze reliefs but due to the artist’s use of perspective they give the illusion of great depth. These doors took over 25 years to construct but the effect is astounding, the artist Michelangelo later dubbed them “The Gates of Paradise.”  They were widely praised and were moved to the east side of the building so they would now face the cathedral (note- the originals are now in a museum and have been replaced by copies).

Gates of Paradise, East baptistery doors, Ghiberti, 1425-52

The artistic rivalry that had sprung forth from Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi had produced two sets of bronze doors, a completed dome for the cathedral and a new method of architecture in the dome.  It also brought a strong influence of Classical art to Florentine art in the 15th century (or Quatrecento), a rediscovery of perspective in painting and last but not least a return to the style of ancient sculpture now being created by Donatello who had gone to Rome with Brunelleschi.  The former spark of the Renaissance in Florence had been reignited.

Il Zuccone (prophet Habakkuk),Donatello, 1427-36 (Museo Opera di S. Maria del Fiore)

Suggested reading:

-Hartt, Frederick. History of Italian Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture.

-King, Ross. Brunelleschi’s Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture. 

-Radke, Gary M.The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Renaissance Masterpiece.

-Walker, Paul Robert. The Feud That Sparked the Renaissance: How Brunelleschi and Ghiberti Changed the Art World.

The Judgment of Paris

The Judgment of Paris is a theme taken from Greek mythology, it is the story of how the Trojan war began and has been a common subject in art.  This was written about, painted, sculpted and quite popular in antiquity before becoming newly fashionable again during the Renaissance and throughout art history.  Themes on the Trojan war continued to show up in the arts for centuries and this was a commonly represented part of this story.

Judgment of Paris, Lucas Cranach the Elder, c-1528, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Here is a synopsis of the Judgment of Paris story:

Paris was born the son of the Trojan king but it was foretold at his birth that he would bring about the downfall of the city of Troy so he was sent away and raised in the country, unaware of his royal heritage.  When he grew up he became a shepherd, watching his flocks in the fields all day.

On Mount Olympus there was a wedding of King Peleus of Thessaly and the sea goddess Thetis (future parents of Achilles).  All the gods were invited except Eris, the goddess of discord, as she brought arguments with her everywhere.  After the vows Eris showed up angry and decided to play a trick, she rolled a golden apple down the aisle with the words “To the Fairest” and left.  Eris knew how vain the goddesses were and wanted to cause an argument.

Who was the apple for?  Who was the fairest?  No one could decide between Hera (Juno- goddess of marriage and Zeus’s wife), Athena (Minerva- goddess of wisdom) and Aphrodite (Venus- goddess of Love).  Not even Zeus, king of the gods, wanted to get in the middle of this argument.  He decided to let the Trojan shepherd Paris judge as he was proven to be a very honest man.

Judgment of Paris, Peter Paul Rubens, 1630’s, The National Gallery (London)

The goddesses paraded in front of him and each offered a bribe: Hera offered an empire, Athena offered great wisdom and military power, but Aphrodite offered to make the most beautiful woman in the world fall completely in love with him.

Paris chose Aphrodite as the fairest and then he chose Helen of Sparta (currently the wife of Menelaus).  Helen was so beautiful because she was a daughter of Zeus and her mother was Leda.  Aphrodite brought him to Sparta, Helen fell in love with him instantly and they went back to Troy.  All of Sparta was extremely angry and vowed vengeance.  The other two goddesses were extremely angry and vowed vengeance, and so the Trojan War begins.   

 

Judgment of Paris, Claude Lorrain, 1645-46, National Gallery of Art (Washington D.C.)

Let's compare and contrast three well known paintings of this story (above).  German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder made several versions, he depicts the goddess as young and lithe (if proportionally inaccurate) and shows Paris dressed as a Renaissance man.  Rubens paints an exuberant and dramatic scene showing the goddesses in his famous plump “Rubenesque” manner and fills the work with multiple references to mythology (peacock, cupid, Medusa, etc.).  As typical of the French painter Claude Lorrain who  lived in Rome, he focuses on the landscape rather than the figures.  Lorrain loved all things classical and shows the goddesses dressed or partially draped in a way that was influenced from classical sculpture.

This was a popular theme for a few reasons: it showed the patron was educated and had knowledge of the classics, it was a theme from a famous war but showed no bloodshed and it depicted beautiful women.  Yet there was another and quite important reason for Trojan war themes.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art states on their website:

“Just as the emperor Augustus had claimed descent from Aeneas, a son of Venus, so many Italian princes traced their ancestry to the participants in the Trojan War or sought to equate their own accomplishments with the deeds of these heroes.”*

Frequently this is the case with subjects in art, the patron wants to tie himself/herself to the events portrayed in either a painting or sculpture and so commissioned a well known historic or mythological theme from an artist.


*Source of quote: Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints | Thematic Essay |Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Caravaggio and the Beginnings of Baroque

One of my favorite artists is Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi), a dynamic Italian painter who lived a brief and tumultuous life.  Around 1600 Caravaggio developed his famous style of extreme chiaroscuro (painting form with lights and darks) known as "tenebrism" which was a turning point in art.  I have always felt the Renaissance ended and the Baroque began with this style of painting.

The Calling of Saint Matthew, Caravaggio  (1599-1600)

Contarelli Chapel, Church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome

His style was criticized as being too realistic in Italy because he frequented taverns and brothels and used the people he met there as his models for subjects in religious painting.  However he had a near immediate stylistic influence on Dutch, French and Spanish art as well as influencing the next generation of Italian painters.  Let’s look at two of my favorite Caravaggio paintings, starting with The Calling of St. Matthew, in Rome.

This breathtaking painting is still located in the church it was painted for; it shows the moment in time when Christ calls Matthew to be one of his apostles.  Matthew is in a tavern, his companions are immersed in drinking and gambling.  Caravaggio paints everyone in modern dress though the subject is biblical, this way the contemporary viewer will be able to relate to the saint.  With this painting Caravaggio draws the viewer into the painting, it was not common for figures in a painting to have their backs turned to you, but he includes this type of realism as another way to relate to the subject.

Though his friends are still partaking in gambling, Matthew feels the Holy Spirit descend upon him and there is no doubt that he will follow Christ.  The influence of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling is clear, the extended arm and hand of Christ is that of Adam (seen below).  

Creation of Man, Michelangelo Buonarotti, 1510

Sistine Chapel Ceiling frescoes, Vatican, Italy

This can be interpreted as a direct link between the sins of Adam and the redemption of man due to the sacrifice of Christ.  There is also a symbol foreshadowing the death of Christ, the cross.  If at first you don’t see it then look again at the window panes, there is the cross in the center.  This would have been more apparent to the contemporary viewer; such large window panes are everywhere today but would have been rare at the time. 

The Conversion of Saint Paul, Caravaggio  (1600-01)

Chigi Chapel, Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome

One of my very favorite paintings is Caravaggio's The Conversion of Saint Paul.  This painting actually made me stagger backwards in awe and almost fall when I saw it in person for the first time in Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome.  The image is powerful in its simplicity of design which was not typical of painting at the time.  Usually paintings were crowded with many figures, here the message has a greater impact.  Caravaggio shows the moment in time when the Roman soldier Saul, hears the voice of God.  He is stunned and is knocked from his horse by this powerful moment as he is converted to the Christian, St. Paul.  This was criticized for focusing on “the ass of a horse" in a holy painting, but with St. Paul falling towards the viewer and breaking the perceived space of the painting, it is a groundbreaking work of art and another way the artist connects the viewer to the image.

Compare this with the work of a popular artist at the time, Annibale Caracci.  Caracci's Assumption of the Virgin Mary, is located in the same chapel next to The Conversion of St. Paul.  It was done in the typical style of the time and while it is an exuberant painting, it doesn't match the solemn realism of Caravaggio.  The subject matter takes place in another realm, unlike Caravaggio's paintings which nearly include the viewer.

The Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Annibale Caracci (1600-01)

Chigi Chapel, Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome

Penitent Magdalene, Georges de la Tour, 1640, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

While other painters after Caravaggio use tenebrism, he alone used as his light source a holy light coming from God or religious figures. Compare this to the French artist, Georges de la Tour’s Penitent Magdalene.  He was a Caravaggisti (follower of the style of Caravaggio) and while it is a remarkable painting, the light source is a candle rather than the use of holy light.

Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes, Artemisia Gentileschi, 1625,

Detroit Institute of Arts

Another powerful example of a work by a Caravaggisti, is Judith and her Maidservant, by Artemisia Gentileschi from roughly the same period.  This is a stunningly well executed painting but Gentileschi also uses a candle as her light source.

                                                                

Caravaggio shows us that by following the holy light of God, people are coming out of the darkness that they have been living in.  His paintings contain few figures, but the others in the painting are surrounded by darkness.  He could relate to the sinners in his paintings as he was frequently in trouble with the law.  In a drunken brawl he killed a man in Rome and spent several years in exile going to Naples, Malta and Sicily before heading back to Rome where he died a tragic death at age 38.  During his lifetime painted few works, however the works he left behind had an enormous influence on painting.


The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas is going to have a Caravaggio exhibit this fall, the following is from their website:

Kimbell Art Museum

Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome, October 16, 2011 through January 8, 2012

One of the most intriguing and influential figures in the history of art, Caravaggio (1571–1610) overturned the artistic conventions of the day and created stunningly dramatic paintings, both sacred and secular. This ambitious exhibition explores the profound impact of his work on the wide range of painters of Italian, French, Dutch, Flemish, and Spanish origin who resided in Rome. Arranged by theme, it includes about 60 paintings, with Caravaggio's compelling images juxtaposed with those he inspired.

The Laocoön

I have been reading an interesting book “The Mirror of the Gods” by Malcolm Bull.  The author discusses the revival of Greco-Roman mythology during the Renaissance and how those myths show up in art.  In the book he briefly discusses the stunning Laocoön sculpture group, one of my favorite sculptures.  It would be worth taking a trip to Rome just to see it.  Bull mentions this sculpture when he is talking about the sources that Renaissance artists and patrons had for referencing mythology.

Laocoön, Roman copy from 1st c. AD after 2nd c. BC Hellenistic original, Vatican Museums

Laocoön (pronounced lah-ock-o'-own) was a figure in the Trojan war, he was a priest who warned the Trojans not to accept the Trojan horse as a gift.  However the goddess Athena wanted to see Troy defeated so she sent serpents to strangle Laocoön and his sons, it is that moment which is being shown.  This is an extremely powerful image and a good example of the Hellenistic style in Greek sculpture.  This was marked by an extreme realism and often with a dramatic subject matter.  The struggle for life and death is evident in all figures, both in their contorted poses and in their expressions.

Dying Slave, Michelangelo Buonarotti, 1513-15, Louvre

The original Greek statue was lost but a Roman copy (today in the Vatican) was discovered in Rome in an excavation in 1506.  Michelangelo was in Rome at that time and was one of the first to see it.  The sculpture was a huge influence in Michelangelo’s own work, the twisting torso showed up many times in his sculptures.  He was painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling frescos at the time and the musculature and anatomy seen in the Laocoön group can be seen in the Sistine Chapel ceiling figures.  A good example is seen in the figures surrounding God Separating Darkness and Light.

God Separating Darkness and Light, Michelangelo Buonarotti, 1509,

Sistine Chapel Ceiling fresco, Vatican, Italy

This was a well known and highly praised work of art in the Renaissance, so I found it surprising when I found that it never became a popularly represented myth in painting or sculpture. 

There were very few original images I could find from the 16^th through 19^th centuries, such as this painting by El Greco.  

Laocoön, El Greco, c-1610, National Gallery of Art (Washington D.C.)

Ancient Rome, Giovanni Paolo Panini, 1757, Metropolitan Museum of Art

However there were quite a few works of art during that same time period which referenced the Laocoön in the Vatican.  There were several sculptural copies, many prints and etchings and more than a few paintings which included the work.  One example is Panini’s painting gallery of Ancient Rome (he painted three versions) that show a variety of ancient sculptures and buildings in Rome.

The Finding of the Laocoön, Hubert Robert, 1773, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond

Another example is 18^th century French Neoclassical painter Hubert Robert’s The Finding of the Laocoön, where the scene of this discovery is imagined in a romanticized scene.  In The Mirror of the Gods, Bull does wonder why some scenes from mythology are popularly represented in art and why some are not.  He discussed that usually this happens with a little known myth or where the original representations of it aren’t well known.  That is clearly not the case with the Laocoön.  Were there few other original interpretations because the sculpture is so striking that it set too high a standard for other artists to compete with?  Even if other original depictions of the Laocoön story did not commonly show up in art, this sculpture had a definite influence on art centuries after it was unearthed.

6 Different Guitar Picking Styles

New guitar players will sometimes overlook their right-hand to pay attention to all of the activity on the left. But the picking hand holds the keys to a variety of textures and styles. This summary of various picking techniques will help you to explore some of these textures and then incorporate them into your guitar playing.

Downstroke

This is the first one everybody learns. Using your pick you will stroke downward, towards the ground, then let it come to rest against the succeeding guitar string (known as a "rest stroke"). Make certain that you do not pick out from the guitar and into thin air. To do so results in a longer gap to get to your following note and there is a greater risk that you may come back to the incorrect string. Employing the rest stroke allows the pick to move within a finite space each time, training your hand muscles to come back correctly for the upcoming note.

Double Stroke

Double stroke or "alternate picking" means alternating down strokes with up strokes. It's usually used for 8th notes and faster. Although at times you'll use all downstrokes for 8th notes depending on just how much aggression the song demands. As with the downstroke, you need your pick to come directly back upwards, rather than away into thin air. In order to accomplish this, ensure that you're moving sideways with your wrist not rotating your lower arm at the elbow. Make sure you are alternating: down - up - down - up. You will find picking techniques which will occasionally repeat a down or up movement, nevertheless, you will need to get good at this even double picking first so that you don't develop undesirable habits.

Sweep Picking

This kind of picking style may be used for speedy arpeggio runs. The idea entails stringing together all downstrokes or all upstrokes on adjacent strings in order to sound a quick series of notes. Think of it in this way: Get a barre chord and, instead of a typical strum, pick through each of the guitar strings using a down stroke in a single fluid motion towards the floor. After that do the very same using up strokes. The difference will come in your left-hand. For a sweep picked line your left hand should not hold down all the notes at once, but one at a time, like a normal single note melody. The big aim at this point is to have clean articulation between the notes and don't let them ring together. All using that steady single movement in your right-hand.

This may not be a technique that everybody needs to have, however it's a striking tool for your guitar player tool box. This can also be used in a simpler way, for a few notes as opposed to a massive flurry.

Music artists to listen to: Yngwie Malmsteen, Herman Li (of Dragonforce), and Frank Gambale.

Fingerpicking

This approach calls for losing your pick entirely and simply using your fingers. It is prominent in classical music as well as folk and world music styles, but can also be used for almost anything you would like. In general, the thumb will deal with the bottom two or three strings and your second, 3rd, and 4th fingers are going to deal with the top three strings. You can experiment with a rest stroke, which is similar to the picking option above where by your finger tip comes to rest against the next string. The other option is a free stroke in which your finger tip finishes its motion hovering above the guitar strings. Free strokes are usually used for chord arpeggios in which you want the notes to ring against each other. Rest strokes are used for melodies where you want cleaner articulation between your notes.

Music artists to listen to: Mark Knopfler (of Dire Straits), Andres Segovia, Merle Travis, and Joao Gilberto

Hybrid Picking

This style uses a pick, held as normal between your thumb and second finger, plus your additional fingers used bare. You'll find it's good for articulating clean bass lines as you are playing chords or melodies on the upper strings using your fingertips. You might also use it along with ordinary picking techniques when you have to hit notes on non-adjacent strings.

Music artists to listen to: Buckethead, Brad Paisley, Albert Lee, Brian Setzer

Finger Picks and Thumb Picks

These are guitar picks that are attached to each individual finger (excluding the pinkie) and thumb by a plastic band. The principles are generally basically the same as those regarding fingerpicking. The big difference is that the picks provide a sharper, louder sound as compared to regular fingerpicking. A lot of players use only the thumb pick as a substitute for a traditional pick. Finger and thumb picks are most often used by banjo players, yet also by slack key, Dobro, and slide players.

Beauty & Bounty: American Art in an Age of Exploration

A new exhibit called Beauty & Bounty: American Art in an Age of Exploration just opened at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) featuring American landscape painters in the 19th century.  What better way to start off the long holiday weekend celebrating Independence Day than by going to see this exhibit on Friday night?  Unfortunately my friends and I got off to a late start and we didn't have as long as we would like in the museum before they closed, however in that short time I did see a lot and also found out some of the reasons for painting landscapes at that time.  I also learned of some new favorite painters such as William Keith, Grafton Tyler Brown and pioneer daughter Emily Inez Denny whose view of the San Juans was among my favorite paintings.

Mount Rainier Bay of Tacoma, Sanford Robinson Gifford, 1875, Seattle Art Museum

I went from room to room gasping in awe as I saw each painting and wishing I had more time to spend in front of them.  While the artists in this exhibit weren’t working in one specific style there were definitely commonalities in the work.  American landscape painting from this time period can best be described as majestic.  It is bittersweet to look at the paintings knowing some of these landscapes aren’t there anymore but for those that remain these paintings would inspire anyone to want to visit all the places depicted.

SAM’s website states this about the exhibit:

“When the first surveyors went westward, they took painters and photographers with them to create images that would fire the collective imagination of a nation and draw emigrants westward.

Albert Bierstadt's painting of Puget Sound on the Pacific Coast for example, was deemed a virtuous enterprise for attempting to transport viewers to a still unknown region of the country. We tend to think of landscape art as a record of an artist's personal, intimate experience in nature, but in the nineteenth century, artists painted the American landscape as a response to the enthusiasms of their audience, too. They led us to remote places of natural splendor and abundance, and we followed, leaving our own marks upon the land.”

Puget Sound on the Pacific Coast, Albert Bierstadt, 1870, Seattle Art Museum

I have always loved the German born painter Albert Bierstadt and his panoramic and sweeping views of landscapes.  This work at SAM has always fascinated me; I now know Bierstadt painted this without seeing the Puget Sound which is why it is so unusual.  The landscape is dramatic, but it doesn’t actually exist.  Bierstadt based it off a combination of the Atlantic coast and mountainous areas he had seen.

However the rest of the paintings give an accurate view of American vistas from coast to coast.  There were examples of the rocky shores of Maine, Niagra Falls, several mountain ranges (Catskills, Adirondacks, and Rockies), the Grand Canyon, the Yosemite Valley and the Pacific Northwest among others.

There was also a sizable collection of landscape photography and if I hadn’t been ushered out by the museum guards (yes we were the last to leave the building) I would have seen that too, but I’ll be back.  This exhibit runs from June 30 to September 11, 2011 and has an accompanying catalog.  Also, there is a concurrent program running on Public TV station KCTS 9 called Land of Beauty and Bounty.