Before the 17th century the painting of landscapes was generally confined to use as a backdrop for other scenes rather than a subject worthy of consideration in its own right. And even as the landscapes themselves began to dominate the canvas they were highly stylized and not until the 19th century did they begin to be portrayed in a more naturalistic style that we would be more familiar with today. Most notable are the works of Turner and Constable still considered to be outstanding contributors to the genre.
During the second half of the 20th century, the definition of subject area for landscape painting suffered a seismic shift with urban and industrial scenes coming into focus (that which we would refer to as cityscape). Landscape continues to be an ever popular style and artists now work within many media and techniques to capture and record the land we live in and also our impact upon it.
The style has recently seen an extra resurgence in popularity with the National Trust supporting the annual Sky Arts competition ‘Landscape Painter of the Year’ in a bid to find the nation’s best landscape painter.
Well known and notable artists working within the genre would include; Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gough, John Constable J. M W. Turner, Thomas Gainsborough, Paul Cezanne, Claude Lorrain, Thomas Cole, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, David Hockney, Paul Gauguin, Gustave Klimt, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and James Abbot McNeil Whistler.
Some of our artists producing artworks featuring landscapes include; Barry Hilton, Nick Potter, John Waterhouse, Leigh Lambert, Philip Gray, Keith Drury, John Knapp-Fisher, Dylan Izaak, Duncan Palmar, Duncan MacGregor, Inam, Ben Jeffery, James Martin, John Lines and Kate Fensom.
