Book Description

The varieties of pleasure and their expression in Dutch rusticlandscapes of the seventeenth century are recurring themes in Walter S. Gibson'sengaging new book. Gibson focuses on Haarlem between 1600 and 1635, in hisinterpretation of Dutch landscapes and emphasizes prints, the medium in whichthe rustic view was first made available to the general art-buying public.

Gibson begins by looking at the origins of the rustic landscape in thesixteenth-century Flanders and its later reformation by Dutch artists, a legacyvery much alive today. He next offers a critical review of "scriptural reading,"a popular mode of interpreting the Dutch rustic landscape that incorporatesCalvinist-influenced moral allegories. Gibson then explores traditional ideasconcerning recreation and suggests that the pleasure of rural landscapes, notpreaching, constituted their chief appeal for seventeenth-century urban viewers.

Using Visscher's Plaisante Plaetsen ("Pleasant Places") as a pointof departure, Gibson examines the ways that townspeople, both the day-trippersand owners of country houses, experienced the Dutch countryside. He alsodiscusses the role of staffage and suggests how the representations of peasantsmight have conditioned the responses of contemporary viewers to rural images.

Finally, Gibson considers how scenes of the dilapidated farm buildings,dead trees, and other evidence of material decay may reflect traditional ideasrustic life as imagined by a townsperson. Or how they may represent another wayfor the artist to engage his urban audience: far removed from the idealizedlandscapes of a Giorgione, the rustic landscape of a Ruisdael conveys acountryside that was beginning to disappear under the relentless pressures ofurbanization.

Gibson's multilayered exploration of the rustic landscape enhances ourunderstanding of the Golden Age in Dutch art. His richly illustrated bookrecalls a countryside now largely gone; at the same time, his evocative languagegracefully articulates the role of the Dutch rustic landscape in the history oflandscape painting. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Pleasant Book
Walter Gibson's "Pleasant Places" will help you enjoy the quiet and unassuming genre of 17th Century northern European landscape art. The author accepts the works at face value: pleasant images of places the Dutch in particular liked to visit. Gibson does not read religious allegory into them as some art historians do, but he instead shows you how to appreciate the quality of light, the sense of place, and the Dutch character that emerges from Dutch landscape art. He perhaps inadvertently offers some examples where religious interpretations may be more important than he allows, and you do not feel that he is forcing all of the works to fit his premise even though he is steadfast. The book is well-written, and I especially appreciate the author's parenthetical definition of Dutch terms and concepts as they are introduced. In addition, he gently reminds you of their meanings when they are reintroduced in subsequent chapters, so you won't have to hunt through the index and text to find them again. Some of the black-white reproductions of prints are too small, and not clear enough to enable detailed study, but this is a common problem with art history books, and this book will motivate you to visit the nearest art museum to study the genre in any case. Walter Gibson communicates a love and respect for 17th Century northern European landscape art that makes me want to visit Holland and experience it first-hand. Walter Gibson has persuaded me that I will find the Dutch countryside a pleasant place laden with history and wonderful light. ... Read more

Book Description

You are here, a map declares, but of course you are not, any more than you truly occupy the vantage point into which a landscape painting puts you. How maps and paintings figure and reconfigure space-as well as our place in it-is the subject of Edward S. Casey's ambitious study, an exploration of how we portray the world and its many places.

Casey's discussion ranges widely from Northern Sung landscape painting to nineteenth-century American and British landscape painting and photography, from prehistoric petroglyphs and medieval portolan charts to seventeenth-century Dutch cartography and land survey maps of the American frontier. From these culturally and historically diverse forays a theory of representation emerges. Casey proposes that the representation of place in visual works be judged in terms not of resemblance, but of reconnecting with an earth and world that are not the mere content of mind or language-a reconnection that calls for the embodiment and implacement of the human subject.

Representing Place is the third volume in Casey's influential epic project of reinterpreting evolving conceptions of space in world thought. He combines history with philosophy, and cartography with art, to create a new understanding of how representation requires and thrives on space, ultimately renewing our appreciation of the power of place as it is set forth in paintings and maps.

Edward S. Casey is leading professor of philosophy at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and the author of numerous books, including Getting Back into Place (1993) and The Fate of Place (1999). ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A keeper
Every so often, you check out a book at the library, and turn right around and buy it for yourself. This is one such book. For those of us who paint from photos, this book is a must to have. The illustrations are crisp and the steps clear and easy to follow. From thumbnail sketch to final brush stroke, Mr. Patterson demonstrates how to create a vibrant painting from a ho-hum photo, and how to combine photos for the most impact. What a find!

Watercolor Wonders
Usually, skilled people are able to just do and not explain how they do - Mr. Patterson is an exception. In great detail, this book acts as a brilliant text for anyone interested in watercolor painting from the devoted student to the those with casual interest. Beyond the "how to" aspects, Mr. Patterson has been generous enough to include several plates of his own beautiful paintings - indeed, his technique works! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

painting landscapes in oils
As an art teacher, for painting out of doors this book gives a wonderful insight into painting skies, mountains and nature. The simplicity, choice of coloursand style is inspirational. Norman Battershill's discriptionsof each of the examples are clear and precise like his unclutteredpaintings. He has an ability to hone in on focal points and accentuate themby making the colours sing. Hopefully with his book, we will able tocapture the beauty of our South African landscapes with as much mood andatmosphere as he has in his book.

painting landscapes in oils
As an art teacher, for painting out of doors this book gives a wonderful insight into painting skies, mountains and nature. The simplicity, choice of coloursand style is inspirational. Norman Battershill's discriptionsof each of the examples are clear and precise like his unclutteredpaintings. He has an ability to hone in on focal points and accentuate themby making the colours sing. Hopefully with his book, we will able tocapture the beauty of our South African landscapes with as much mood andatmosphere as he has in his book. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

disappointing
The author spent more time in analysis of composition of a landscape than he did in any actual rendering issue or study of water.
Water was not analysed: there was no study or explanations on reflection or refraction, nothing on rendering different effects of water depth, no reasoning behind color choices, no hints about glazing or transparency techniques, no observations on sky vs object reflection in ripples, no explanations on how various light sources manifest in different water surfaces, no study or analysis of the nature of swells, nothing on the power of water's behaviour.
I do not recommend this book. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

Very nicely done!
This book serves as a very good introduction to the oriental methods and philosophy behind the art of landscape painting. The target audience is Western people. Wucius Wong did a great job in explaining the ideas with concise texts and nice illstrations. You can also find some very nice Chinese calligraphy used for the original Chinese terms he is explaining. Highly recommended!! ... Read more