What is the name of the genre of paintings depicting nature? History of the genre and artists

Do all readers know what the genre of paintings depicting nature is called? Of course, this landscape painting, also known as gardening art. These are works that depict mountains, rivers and seas, any elements of the natural landscape. And an important element of the composition can be the weather.

The main trends in the landscape genre

Landscapes are different, there are even certain of its divisions - it's urban, rural, where the viewer sees the elements of the village and the image of nature, where there are no buildings. The very word "landscape" is French, and mainly this genre refers to easel painting. It so happened that the image of nature is rarely used in monumental painting.

Different nature can be depicted in the landscape: both natural and transformed by man. Not only rivers, forests, seas or mountains. Even a drawing with ordinary vegetation can also be regarded as a landscape genre.

History of the genre

Landscape, as the genre of paintings depicting nature is called, was manifested in ancient times. For example, in Pompeii frescos one can find a sufficient large number of images of the landscape. In the Middle Ages, this genre is very often found in miniatures and icons. But the very first landscape picture in the history of the development of European art is the canvas, which is called "Saint George".

This painting was written in one thousand five hundred and ten years, at the very beginning of the sixteenth century. It belongs to the brush of Albrecht Altdorfer. Soon enough, the genre of paintings depicting nature becomes quite independent. His varieties and directions are formed - this is lyrical, heroic and documentary.

What is the name of the genre of paintings depicting nature? Famous artists of this genre

Particularly great contribution was made to this genre by such an artist as Peter Brueghel. One of his works is called - "Landscape with the fall of Icarus." Nature has always played a very significant role in all of its creations. By the seventeenth century, that is to the next period, can be attributed to the paintings of the well-known Dutch artist Jacob Isaacs van Ruisdael.

It was for this period was characterized by the writing of clean landscapes. No houses, buildings or people. Pictures depicting the nature of Jacob Isaacs represent exclusively landscapes of Holland. They are a little bit harsh, gloomy, with large trees, and quite often they have a gray leaden sky.

Cloths of the eighteenth and nineteenth century

Especially popular in this period was the Italian artist Giovanni Antonio Canaletto. He was a master of the architectural landscape. And such works contain even a certain documentary character. Since these paintings could be used to study not only architectural styles of the past period, but also some domestic features.

But already the nineteenth century gave a very broad pleiad (both in Russia and abroad) of outstanding landscape painters. They went out into the countryside, did sketches with ink, pen, pencils or charcoal, and then continued their work in the studio. They transferred these sketches to the canvas, and the entire color range was selected according to their visual memories. This century became known for the first attempts to show as accurately as possible the diversity of nature, the multi-colored colors and completely different states of it. His teacher Impressionists considered the very famous English artist John Constable. He was the first who tried to introduce juicy colors into painting.

Russian landscapes, or a special genre in art

In Russia, the landscape school was also widely developed. One of the outstanding artists of that time was Savrasov, his most famous work is "The Rooks Have Arrived." But the Russian landscape genre went in a more academic manner. Very popular were paintings on "Nature" artist Isaac Levitan. In general, he was the first Russian painter-landscape painter to turn to forms of unpretentious nature and to prove that any part of it is beautiful and unique.

And, of course, when answering the question about the name of the genre of paintings depicting nature, it is impossible not to touch upon the special landscape style of the marina. There was this name from the Latin word "marinus", which means "sea". That is, it is primarily pictures depicting the sea, rivers, waterfalls, but on condition that they occupy most of the canvas. All of these paintings belong to a special kind of landscape painting of the marina.

The most famous painters are seascapes

A very well-known seascapes painter in Russia was Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, in England, Joseph Mallord William Turner is equally popular , who also painted seascapes. One of his famous works is "The last voyage of the ship" Brave ". In his paintings, he is less realistic than Aivazovsky, but rather vividly conveys the sensations of the sea and the setting sun.

As for the landscape genre of the twentieth century, here you can mention Salvador Dalí and his famous painting "Elephants". Despite the fact that this picture also includes elements of the surrealistic style of writing, it also refers to landscape painting. The main task of this genre is to convey the sensations that the author of the work receives when contemplating nature. And each painting should look so that the viewer could not only feel the artist's attitude to the fragment of nature, but also as if to become a witness of the action that the author has captured.