The Landscape

As a genre of art, landscape is the depiction of natural scenery. It wasn’t until the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries that landscapes in Western art were released from the backgrounds of history paintings or portraits to become a subject of art in its own right.

Since then, the depiction of landscape has encompassed a wide-ranging set of artistic intentions. These vary from an appreciation of the beauty of nature to a highly constructed record of power and authority over place. During the Renaissance, Dutch and Flemish painters captured the detail and irregularity of nature with renowned accuracy. In the early to mid-nineteenth century, romantic pastoral views were largely a reaction to the increasing industrialisation and modernisation of society. At the turn of the twentieth century the impressionists took their painting practice outdoors, expanding the genre to include both natural and urban scenes.

As the global art world continued to expand, approaches to, and modes of, art expression began to evolve and mutate at pace, a myriad of new movements and styles having made their dramatic entry by the final decades of the nineteenth century.

By the late 1880s, the original group of Impressionists had begun to drift apart, with younger artists adopting the tenets of Impressionism and pushing these into new areas. The broad term ‘Post-Impressionist’ is applied to these emerging artistic movements, despite it being, by no means, a singular, cohesive style. Under the umbrella of Post- Impressionism sit Neo-Impressionism, Cloisonnism, Synthetism, Symbolism, Les Nabis, Fauvism and the Pont-Aven School. A period marked by significant experimentation, Post-Impressionism saw rapid developments in technique and style and a further disintegration of the rules and expectations of the established art world.

By this time, artists had begun to eschew objectivity and no longer sought to capture the inherent ‘truth’ of observation in their art. Artists now turned inwards to represent their own subjectivity; that is, to depict the world as they saw it. Desiring to be free from the perceived limitations of Impressionism, and in particular the commitment to rendering the effects of light and shade, they sought to create their ‘view’ of the world.

The Post-Impressionists envisioned a new artistic order, one unconstrained by the rules governing the representation of colour and form in the natural environment. They played with vivid (unnatural) colours and utilised impasto to create three-dimensional surfaces. Under the banner of what is now termed Post-Impressionism, these artists used their work as a conduit for the expression of emotion and concepts beyond what could be seen through immediate visual inspection, their works becoming the realisation of deeper concepts and sensations.

Text by Tansy Curtin, Assistant Director, Artistic and Collection Programs, and Maria Zagala, Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs, Catalogue for Monet to Matisse: Defying Tradition, 2026

Paul Cézanne, born Aix-en-Provence, France 1839, died Aix-en-Provence, France 1906, Avenue at Chantilly, 1888, oil on canvas, 81.3 x 64.8 cm; Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William E. Levis, Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, United States of America.

What is Impressionism?

Originating in Paris in the late nineteenth century, impressionism was an art-historical movement provoked by a number of changes in technology. The advent of steam and electricity, urbanisation, and the rise of the bourgeoise – the middle classes who, as a result of the Industrial Revolution, could now afford leisure time – dramatically changed society. Impressionism was a response to these changes.

Key exponents of the movement included Camille Pissarro, Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet, Berthe Morisot and Claude Monet, whose painting Impression, soleil levant (Impression, sunrise), 1872, is considered responsible for the name of the movement. These artists were deeply interested in capturing fleeting scenes of everyday life, often taking their practice outside the studio, en plein air – in open air. The loose, rapid brushstrokes, more open composition and an emphasis on capturing the changing effects of light marked a dramatic shift from the preceding traditions of studio painting.

Getting Started

  • Choose your favourite impressionist landscape. Describe what it would be like to live here.
  • Fascinated by changes in atmosphere, the impressionists depicted both warm and cool scenes. Select a work of art which, if you could step inside the painting, would be a cold environment or would it be hot?

Frederick McCubbin, born West Melbourne 25 February 1855, died South Yarra, Victoria 20 December 1917, Setting sun, c.1911, Melbourne, oil on wood panel, 23.6 x 33.4 cm, 34.0 x 42.6 x 4.0 cm (frame); M.J.M. Carter AO Collection 2006, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.

Tips and ideas for teaching landscape in Visual Art

  • Go outside, take your sketchbook and pencil, and sketch what you see. Try to capture the moment; many artists try to capture the moment rather than perfect realism. Draw buildings, cars, roads, trees, fences, and lampposts.
  • Explore the theme of light at different times of the day. Take photographs of the same scene at morning, midday, sunset, and night, and compare the light and how it changes. Study the work of Claude Monet, who made repeated studies of the same subject at different times of the day.
  • Draw the view through a window. What can you see? Are there buildings, fields, gardens, or playgrounds? Draw the window frame and what is outside. Look at the work of Henry Matisse and his paintings of views through windows. Consider using unrealistic colours inspired by Matisse's work.
  • Draw the journey to and from school. Where do you start? Which roads do you take? What do you see? Record your journey as a line and images drawn from memory.
  • Think of a landscape you have seen somewhere you would like to go again, such as the beach, the park, the hills, a forest, a mountain, or a reserve. How could you draw this landscape?
Impressionist painting of a garden pond by Claude Monet

The invention and increased use of photography in the modern era encouraged artists to explore and experiment, as they were no longer needed to depict notable people, places or events with incredible accuracy. If photographic depictions surpassed the need for artists, what is the role of the artist in painting landscapes or people in the modern era, and also today?

A painting sometimes consists of a foreground, middle ground and background. What do you think is the function of these planes? Draw over photocopies of your favourite landscape painting in AGSA's collection to identify the foreground, middle ground and background. Repeat this for a few of more paintings with different subject matter. Was the composition constructed the same each time? Where does the artist place their subject matter? What is consistent about their compositions?

Take a series of photographs of the same scene at ten different times during one particular day. Examine the light and colour you have captured at each interval. Which time of the day did you prefer? Compare your images with other members of your class.

Trent Parke, born Newcastle, New South Wales 1971, 365 sunsets, Adelaide, 2010-11, Adelaide, 365 pigment prints; Gift of Macquarie Group through the Art Gallery of South Australia Contemporary Collectors Trent Parke Appeal 2015, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, © Trent Parke, courtesy of Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide, Michael Reid Gallery & Magnum Photos.

  • Explore your local environment and make a series of sketches from different viewpoints. Back in the classroom create three works of art of the same scene using layered tones of chalk pastel on different textured papers. Which surface did you prefer using and why?
  • Find a work of art that you think was painted in winter and one that was painted in summer. What are the winter and summer colour palettes where you live? Visit a paint store and select paint swatches that best represent two opposing seasons where you live. Using these colours create a work of art of that captures the essence of your favourite season.
  • During a lunch time at your school complete an en plein air painting or pastel drawing of students playing and interacting with each other. How will you capture the figures being merged with their environment and the atmosphere or energy of this moment?
  • Take a nature walk with your class. Look closely at your surroundings and focus on the small details, such as the colour of the plants and trees or the details in the bark or leaves, or the shadows created on the ground. Draw these observations in your sketchbook.

Science as a Human Endeavour - Development across disciplines

The collapsible screw top oil tube meant that Impressionist painters could now paint outside with ease, thus this technology influenced the type of work artists were able to undertake.

  • What new technologies have changed the way artists are working today?
  • Investigate an artist and discuss how technology has influenced the type of work they are producing. How has this technique changed over time?
  • Besides being used for artistic purposes, what other role does this technological advancement have in society? For example, consider the invention of plastics and development of synthetic silicones. TIP: You might like to start with investigating Marc Newson’s Lockheed Lounge in the Gallery’s collection.

Artist Resources