Week 6-Landscape and the Sublime

1. What and when was the Enlightenment?
The Enlightenment was a movement in the 18th century that pulled art toward science and free thinking. Before this time, all art was commissioned by the church and rich people so the subject matter was either religious symbols or portraits. In the enlightenment still life paintings became popular, as did painting scenes that were mundane and 'every day'.

2. Define the concept of the Sublime.

The theory of the sublime was originally defined by theorist Edmund Burke [1729 - 1797] as experiencing an awe and fear of the divine. Around the same time, German philosophers were writing about experiencing God through the appreciation and awe of nature. This led German artists to try and convey this same divine experience through landscape paintings and people then began to see landscape as a valid genre of painting. As it developed, the sublime way of painting landscapes became an exercise in seeing nature as an experience rather than a background.

3. How did the concept of the Sublime come out of the Enlightenment thought?

In the enlightenment people were encouraged to think outside the box and past traditional painting. The Sublime is just an extension of that, breaking into the new concept of landscapes and their magnificence.

4. Discuss the subject matter, and aesthetic (look) of Misrach's work to identify the Sublime in his work. Add some more images of his work.

Richard Misrach photographs mainly the ocean and people. He also captures ice-shapes, deserts, jungles and ruins. His images of people at the beach are shot from above and the people are so tiny that it forces you to concentrate on the magnitude of the ocean or beach.
 It makes me feel as though I am looking down at a toy world. It makes me realize how vast our world is and how small we are in comparison.

5. Identify some other artists or designers that work with ideas around the Sublime, from the Enlightenment era as well as contemporary artists.

This painting, Capture of the Tripoli by the Enterprise [1806/12] by Thomas Birch shows the sublime very well. It captures the magnificence and beauty of the ocean.

This photograph by William Neill is quite simmilar to, Wanderer in the Mists [1818] by Caspar David Friedrich. The mist and rocky landscape make for a very sublime photo.

6. How does Misrach's photography make you feel? Does it appeal to your imagination?

Research:

http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2008/misrach/misrachinfo_fs.shtm
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/120163?search_id=25
http://www.williamneill.com/