Lovely Landscapes

Landscape paintings are paintings that famous artists have painted of the natural beauty they see before them.

Thomas Cole was an English-born American artist and the founder of the Hudson River School who created lovely oil paintings of landscapes. Among his famous paintings is The Oxbow painted in 1836. Today this painting can be viewed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

This landscape depicts the Connecticut River Valley in the New England region of the US. The view the artist had when painting was from Mount Holyoke in Northampton, Massachusetts just after a thunderstorm. The oil painting depicts the dark wilderness upon rugged cliffs while above are dark rain clouds. The view then moves on to depict a lighter landscape to the right showing the tranquility of the flowing Connecticut River. The painting The Oxbow refers to a bend in the river.

Henri Rousseau was a French post-Impressionist painter. In 1907 he created the painting titled The Flamingos. Today this painting is part of a private collection. The painting depicts a family of four pink flamingoes on a riverbank, lined up in height order, in various poses. Across the water is a spit or island upon which you can see three villagers. It is thought that the artist became interested in tropical climes from illustrations he saw in children’s books and the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, France. The artist visited the garden in Paris many times and enjoyed the tropics in the glass houses.

John Constable was an English landscape painter who revolutionized the art of landscape painting. He created the painting titled The Hay Wain in 1821. Today it can be viewed at The National Gallery in London, England.

The painting depicts a still millstream near Flatford Mill in Suffolk, England. The tranquil scene depicts the River Stour flowing between the English counties of Essex and Suffolk. The most memorable elements in the painting are the large farm cart in the middle of the river and the house to the left. The title of the painting refers to a large cart used for transporting hay.

Another landscape painting by John Constable Flatford Mill was painted in 1816. Today it can be viewed at the Tate Modern in London, England.

The painting depicts two lighter barges and their crew coming up the River Stour in Suffolk from Dedham Lock. The lighter barges are towed along the river by ropes attached to a horse. The barges had to be disconnected to let the barges be poled under the Flatford Bridge. The rear scenery offers a wider view of the East Bergholt Village set under a towering tree with a cloud-filled sky.

Martin Johnson Heade was an American painter known for his salt marsh landscapes, seascapes, and paintings of tropical birds. He painted Sunlight and Shadow: The Newbury Marshes between 1871 -75. The painting can be viewed at The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.

The painting depicts the salt marshes near the mouth of the Merrimack River at Newbury and Newburyport, Massachusetts. The painting makes use of the primary motif of sunlight and shadow with intricate cloud shadows moving from light to dark across various elements.

El Greco was a Spanish Renaissance painter of the 15th and 16th centuries. His oil painting View of Toledo was painted between 1596 – 1600 and can be viewed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

The painting depicts the city of Toledo, Spain. The artist used a variety of color contrasts to show the dark sky above and the green hills below. The view is of the city on top of a hill. There are many different landmarks depicted. The location of the Castle of San Servando on the left is accurately depicted. Some of the other landmarks are not in their correct location since the artist created the painting as to how he hoped the city would look in the future.

Fan Kuan was a Chinese landscape painter of the Song Dynasty. He created the amazing seven-foot-long hanging scroll Travelers Among Mountains and Streams. This is one of the most influential examples of early Chinese landscape painting and is representative of the Northern Song School. The human figures, in the composition, are dominated by the grandeur of the surrounding nature.

Giorgione was an Italian painter of the Venetian School of the High Renaissance. One of his most beloved paintings is The Tempest. Today the painting can be viewed at the Gallerie dell’Accademia of Venice in Italy.

The painting depicts two figures, a nursing mother and a young man with a staff. The figures are shown on the outskirts of a city, separated by a stream. It appears that the title of the painting suggests an impending storm overhead. The woman is beneath a tree naked, nursing her son while the young man is fashionably dressed. The town depicted in the background might be Padua.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder was a Dutch artist who was one of the leading artists of the Northern Renaissance. Among his best-known paintings is The Hunters in the Snow. It’s a 1565 oil-on-wood painting and can be viewed at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria.

The painting depicts a winter scene with hunters leading their dogs through a snowy landscape. The hunters are shown in the left-hand corner while the rest of the canvas depicts a view of the faraway village and frozen lakes.

Claude Lorrain was a French painter of the Baroque era. He created the painting Pastoral Landscape in 1648 and today it can be viewed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

The painting depicts an idyllic scene with rolling hills and animals grazing. We see a river curving through the center of the painting. There are tall trees scattered about and in the distance mountains. A fortification or castle can be seen with an entrance arch.

Canaletto was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice. This 18th-century artist was best known for his city views of major cities among them Venice, Rome, and London. In 1744 he created Venice: the Grand Canal and Santa Maria of La Salute. This oil on canvas can be viewed in the Weston Collection in London, England.

The painting is considered to be one of his largest. It depicts a panoramic view of Venice with the Grand Canal and the great church.

Albert Bierstadt was a German-American painter known for his large-scale painting of the American West. He created the painting Looking Down Yosemite Valley, California in 1863. It can be viewed at the Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, Alabama.

The painting depicts the valley from a vantage point above the Merced River looking toward the west. The painter shows the landmarks found in the Yosemite Valley like the well-known towering granite monolith El Capitan. There are other great masses of cathedral rocks that come together in breathtaking-looking scenery.