In the collections of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
www.tate.org.uk
In class today we discussed ideal landscapes, and what the landscape paintings of the Romantic and Neoclassical periods tell us about the differing views on beauty and nature people held. What is your ideal landscape? What about this place and the emotions it inspires make it so special?
Based on what you know about Neoclassical ideal beauty and the Romantic sublime, what aspect of this landscape "fill your mind with agreeable kind of horror" (to borrow Joseph Addison's phrasing) or has "the capacity to instill feelings of intense emotion" (to paraphrase Edmund Burke)? Pictures please! (If it is not a picture you took yourself, please be sure to responsibly attribute the image.)
There was a place I used to play as a child. There are no pictures because it was a secret place only two of my friends and I knew about. To get to our secret playground, we had to cross a small, grassy field. There was a path, but it was only one where the three of us had traversed so many times before, so you had to know where to look to find it. At the end of the field was a small wooded area. This was our secret place. During the summer it was cool and shaded from the heat of the day. There was a pond, probably more of a permanent puddle; it wasn't very deep or wide, but there was always water in it. Beside the pond was a fallen tree where we often ate picnic lunches. The woods must have been larger than we realized because we constantly found new places to explore. Once we even found a big slab of marble. It had been polished and looked very much like a tombstone, except there was no name or date etched on its surface. This place seemed magical at the time and still is in my memory. When my mother would ask where I had been, I wouls merely answer, "Playing with my friends." If she asked where we were playing, I would only mention the field because the woods were off limits to all the neighborhood children.
ReplyDeleteMy ideal landscape would be my family's property in Lexington. The property has a lot of sentimental value to my family and I. I spent a great deal of my childhood playing along the fields and the hills that surrounded my grandfather's home. The property is not huge, but it is a wide open space that leaves me feeling very alone and at peace. It has a subtle beauty. The area surrounding the main house has been cleared for some time. However, it is bordered by a mass of trees and shrubs. It is beautiful, but it is also a little unnerving. At night the air is filled with the sounds of coyotes and other nocturnal creatures. The morning greets you with the fields illuminated by dew... which gives the appearance that the land is an unnatural silver. The rare mornings that bring in mist makes the landscape seem like something out of a science fiction movie. As if you are waking up to a new world of sorts. It is peaceful, and yet it is frightening because at times there is a sense of isolation. It makes you feel as if you belong, while at the same time making you feel very insignificant. Then again, my family and I are tied to this land, so there is a lot of joy and sadness associated with this piece of land. I tried to find a picture, but i couldn't. Nor could I find a picture that could portray the landscape.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in Switerland years ago, we were on top of a vantage point on a mountain that gave a great view of the Matterhorn. That made me feel very small. Then a few friends and myself took a trail down to a lower part on the mountain we were on. We ended up in a green field full of sheep and a pond that was so clear that we could see everything on the bottom. The field was beautiful and peaceful, but we could still see the taller snowcovered mountains in the distance. I guess the contrast of that really struck me, the peaceful and familiarness of a field with the cold hard mountains. It made me feel small and at peace at the same time. I also felt this overwhelming awe at the sight (when my friend wasn't screaming and running away from a sheep that was sniffing her shoe.)
ReplyDeleteMy ideal landscape would be my grandparents house in eastern Wisconsin. When the leaves start to change and the most exquisite shades of yellow, orange and red start to become dominant within the trees is my absolute favorite. The road that leads to their house is lined with high, lush, beautiful trees, and with every bend in the road brings about a new scene. I probably enjoy this scene so much because of the many positive feelings I associate with my grandparents house. My favorite season has always been fall, but this is my favorite landscape that can be found in that season.
ReplyDeleteThe picture above is very romantic and neoclassical. The high walls, the light shades used and the tiny person within the frame add a sense of prospective to the piece. The painting makes me feel warm, because I can see the rays of the sun shining through walls and it seems like a happy piece. I do feel rather small looking at this painting, but I am not filled with any sort of terror, instead I am full of wonder and desire to see this landscape/location for myself.
My ideal landscape has been my entire family’s ideal landscape for three generations. I began camping with my parents and grandparents at age two. I am speaking of Blue River that’s located by the small town of Tishomingo. The vast beautiful area of full dense oak trees, clear water, waterfalls, and wildlife always provide me tranquility. I have always used Blue River to escape life many stressors to counsel my soul. When the seasons change Blue river remains beautiful. I have always been in awe of its consistent beauty. Many waterfalls that flood into immense bubbling tributaries heavily populated with smooth ancient boulders. One turtle shaped boulder marks where we travel to camp and fish. The boulder also gives me an emotional tie in that my grandpa passed the landmark onto me. In the early morning hours and at dusk we look through the clear water as the fish are magnified below. The most concentrated amount of catfish mark where we set limb lines off strong saplings along the bank of the river. The fish we catch are filleted and fried for our evening meal. Threes something special about experiencing satisfaction in living off what god has provided for you. When my son was born we took him to Blue. He swam in the same cool crystal pool that I had swam hundreds of times. My son, nephew, niece, mother, and grandma have an emotional connection to the swimming hole. We use our river to raise our children with old school beliefs. The same old school beliefs my mom’s father passed onto her. A belief in how nature should be revered, protected, and enjoyed by all.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite landscape is the canyons and mountains of Arizona.Every thing there is mostly dirt colored and dry but I find it beautiful. I think the reason I love the desert so much is because of my grandpa. We took a trip together my freshman year of high school. We visited Tombstone and some other places (Were real big into westerns and cowboys!), but it was all very beautiful. I remember we went to the mall there and i bought a bottle of perfume called Fujiyama purple. We were standing outside later that evening at sunset and i remember spraying the perfume for the first time. It was my grandpa and I watching the sunset with this beautiful flowery smell filling the air and the desert at our feet. Everything combined together that day was perfect. It was pure bliss and I would give anything to go back to that place and see it the same way again.
ReplyDeleteBig Bear, California is a little-known town nestled in a valley elevated 9,000 feet above sea level. Surrounded by mountains, the town and its lake make a scenic retreat. I loved that landscape. We were tucked away, up high in a valley, with mountains on all sides. The mountains were so humbling and it was an "agreeable horror" to live within their confines. The mountains in Big Bear are everything; they provide shelter, water, protection. These powerful mountains combined with the century old pine trees and pure, ice-water lake created a perfect oasis.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned in class my favorite place in the world. It is behind the church camp I used to attend at Beavers Bend. The first is a gorgeous mountain side. Early in the morning we would take a hike to this beautiful place and sing worship songs. We would watch the sunrise and gaze over the Mountain Fork river. Church camp for me was always a wonderful experience. It brings you away from the troubles of your life and surrounds you with loving people and the spirit of Christ.I always feel at peace at this place even now when I visit there because it reminds me of how glorious God's love is and how beautiful his creations are. I love to go there just to reflect on my life and have peace of mind away from all of the troubles going on around me. I will post a picture this weekend. (:
ReplyDeleteKelsey Jackson
My ideal landscape is the vast expanse of the Alaskan frontier. I visited Alaska a few years ago on a family vacation. We flew into a town then got bused to another small town. From there we then had to take a ferry to a shoreline down the bay and hike from there to our cabin. Needless to say, not much was around. I most enjoyed knowing that the nature around me had been untouched and still grew wild however it wanted. I experienced both "agreeable horror" and "intense emotion" as we spent the week washing our clothes in freezing glacial run-offs, hiking miles to see beautiful landscapes, sitting in a boat just a few feet from humpback whales, and looking into the forest wondering what life was like in there. It was definitely an experience I will never forget.
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ReplyDeleteIll bring my picture to class? i guess i dont know how to upload it..
ReplyDeleteWhen a front porch meets a field of deep green grass and goes on until met by slow old road. Over the fence on the far side of the neighbors yard, a hazy staggered treeline runs into an Oklahoman forest up until the top of a pair of big hills. The trees seem so small from here. There were definitely no match for the sun, even if he was tired from a long day. Whether it was the clouds or green house gas, the sky was lavishly layered with a bright pink that faded into a bluish orange sight like i would never forget. The northern lights could not even stand up to this short view of heaven. I was hoping others were watching and enjoying it as much as me, and with a reassuring wink the sun made me feel not alone not feel alone.
ReplyDeleteMy beautiful scene is more directly linked to romanticism than neoclassicism. the intense emotion for me was pure awe, for it made me feel happy inside and like everything was going to be okay. This gift was truly awesome, in the correct use of the word.
When we traveled from Ukraine to Crimea, we started in lush green land. It was very beautiful but the closer we got to Crimea the more beautiful the land got, fields of bright red poppies and purple lavender, mountains with fog covered peaks surrounded by caves and vineyards, then nestled in the mountains the Black Sea where the sea dissolved into the blue sky. It was the most amazing landscape I have ever seen. It looked like God decided to paint a piece of Heaven and I felt like I disappeared in the midst of it. I think it was a very sublime image, although not terrifying, I feel like a picture of me in the middle of this scene would be just as obscure as the picture of the ship in the snow storm. I have been many places, but there was something about Crimea I never got used to. Everyday created just as much awe as the first did.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this post, with your memory you took me to Ukraine for a short while and it read to be very beautiful. You used very vivid adjectives and i imagined the fields of red poppies and purple lavender as if it were in a painting. You painted and framed this picture like an artist. Your second to last sentence was a creative way to bring closure to your excerpt. Although i am not sure the guidelines we are supposed to follow when responding to classmates posts, but with this post definitely showed your talent with description and imagination. Although, i am curious whether you linked it closer to romanticism or neoclassicism, but good post.
DeleteMy favoreite landscape is the woods. Any type. It could be just trees is all you can see forever or it could be a little creek in the middle of nowhere with a little dock so people can swim of or fish off of with the trees in the backgroud or it could be big bolders in the forrest somewhere. I just really like the outdoors and the more vigin they look the more beautiful they are to me.
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