ARTH 29.01 Landscape: Art, Nature & the Anthropocene

How do we see and interact with the natural world around us? How have humans since the early modern period transformed their surroundings for aesthetic as well as political purposes? How does landscape art curate nature for the viewer? Building upon discussions of the Anthropocene in our industrialized world, this course will explore the relationship of art to the environment over the past few centuries. We will investigate the representation of landscape in the visual arts in multiple media, alongside learning about the innovations in landscape design and its interventions in the shaping of nature from the early modern to the contemporary period.

Some themes and issues explored throughout the term include: the political messages contained within landscape gardens (from Versailles to the English garden) and codified social behaviors that they enabled; the birth of the profession of landscape designer; the development of the genre of landscape (from historical to pure painting) and its status within the hierarchy of the arts; nationalistic messages contained within depictions of natural wonders, and influence on conservation and public policy; the picturesque and the sublime. We will also explore more recent uses of the earth as medium through land art and eco-art, all the while thinking through how we see our natural environment over time.

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:ART; WCult:W

The Timetable of Class Meetings contains the most up-to-date information about a course. It includes not only the meeting time and instructor, but also its official distributive and/or world culture designation. This information supersedes any information you may see elsewhere, to include what may appear in this ORC/Catalog or on a department/program website. Note that course attributes may change term to term therefore those in effect are those (only) during the term in which you enroll in the course.

Department-Specific Course Categories

Art History