For this research point I researched contemporary artists who work with landscape and a range of viewpoints and I compared their approaches with those of earlier artists.

The first artists I looked at were Tacita Deans blackboard drawings and George Seurat’s landscape with houses.

Tacita Dean is a British artist born in 1965 in Canterbury. Her series of six multi-panel blackboards show the entire length of the river Kabul in Afghanistan. Each panel depicts a different viewpoint of the terrain. Below is an example of one of these works.

Tacita Dean , Fatigues, 2012 (chalk on blackboard)
https://www.mariangoodman.com/artists/39-tacita-dean/works/28967/
(Accessed 17/03/20)

Georges Seurat was a famous French 19th Century Neo impressionist artist. He was mostly famous for his pointillism painting technique but he was also famous for his conte crayon drawings. Below is an example of one of them.

Georges Seurat, landscape with houses, 1881-82 (conte crayon) 
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/337676
(Accessed 17/03/20)

Similarities between the two drawings:

– Both drawings are landscapes.

– Both drawings are monochromatic grey scale works with high levels of tonal contrast that use similar tonal arrangements and variations that both result in providing dramatic atmospheres. 

– The foreground in each drawing is black which draws my eye to the main focal points in the drawings. 

– In both drawings the focal points appear to be across the middle of the works. 

– Both Landscapes have an undulating up and down rhythm. This is shown in Tacita Deans mountain levels and in the level of the rooftops in Georges Seurats landscape. 

Differences between the two drawings:

– The first difference I noticed is the size and volume of the landscapes. Tactia Dean’s six huge blackboard drawings measure 6 feet x 15 feet each whereas Georges Seurat’s work is an individual piece measuring 24.9cm x 31.9 cm.

– Both landscapes are created using different media’s, Tacita Dean created her work using chalk on a blackboard whereas Georges Seurat used conte crayon on paper.

– Tacita Deans drawings are purely of natural forms whereas Georges Seurats drawing includes houses so it is more man made. 

– Tacita Deans drawings are white chalk on a black blackboard whereas Georges Seurat’s drawing is black conte crayon on white paper. 

– Tacita Dean’s work has a dark area to represent the sky, this contrasts with Seurat’s light tone to represent the sky on his work. 

– It is likely that Georges Seurat completed his drawing at the scene and therefore probably in a relatively short amount of time, I think this because Seurat was known for his “plein air “ paintings where he completed his work outside. Whereas Tactia Dean’s work seems to have taken much longer and is also accompanied by a film and a book with information regarding the images. Her work was also created using photographs that she took of the landscape. 

– Tacita Deans drawing looks almost photographic to me, whereas I think Georges Seurats looks very much like a drawing. 

– The drawings were produced over 100 years apart. 

In conclusion both drawings have huge similarities and equally huge differences, they are both exciting, Moody and evocative in their own seperate ways. They both evoke a sense of serenity in me. 

The next two artists that I decided to study were John Constables ‘The Hay Stack’ and Stev’nn Halls ‘Red box car.’ I decided to look at these paintings  because I was fascinated by both paintings exciting dramatic clouds in the sky. 

Stev’nn Hall is a contemporary Canadian artist who creates multimedia landscapes. The work I will be looking at is Red Box Car. Created with photo, oil, ink and resin on panel. It is 84cm x 84cm. 

Stev’nn Hall Red Box Car 
http://www.stevnnhall.com/mixed-media-2008.php#red%20box%20car (accessed 21/03/20)

John constable was an English landscape painter ‘The Hay Stack’ is regarded as one of his most famous works. It depicts a rural scene on the river stour and was completed in 1821 using oil on canvas. It is 130.2cm x 185.4cm.

John Constable The Hay Stack 
https://mymodernmet.com/contemporary-landscape-painting/ (accessed 21/03/20)

Similarities between the two artworks:

Both works are landscapes

Both landscapes have exciting dramatic clouds and skies, that to me are the main focus.

Both paintings have landscapes of countryside fields with trees.

The colour schemes in both landscapes are similar, the blue tones of the sky and the heavy tones in the clouds are similar as are the yellow, brown and green tones of the countryside below. 

Both landscapes give a realist depiction of what the landscape would have looked like. 

Differences between the two artworks: 

The materials used in both landscape works are extremely different, John constables uses the very traditional approach of oil on canvas whereas Stev’nn Halls works in a very unique and contemporary way for this landscape, he took photographs through the glass of his car window, he then re photographed his photgraphs, edited and distilled these images then enlarged them and scratched, distressed and painted on top of them finishing them off with a glaze.

The time apart from which they were created is an immense difference John constables work was created in 1821 whilst Stev’nn Halls work was created in 2008, 187 years later! There is no doubt that both of these artists lived and created their art in extremely different worlds. 

The amount of sky John Constables’ landscape has appears to be a proportional amount for a realist depiction of a landscape. However Stev’nn Halls landscape seems to have a disproportional amount of sky in comparison to the amount of landscape portrayed. For me this is why I was so attracted to this work, having such a large proportion of sky really enforces it’s dramatic and exciting clouds. 

John Constables ‘The Hay Stack’ is a landscape that depicts a rural scene on the River Stour. The Mill in the painting was owned by Constables father and the house on the left hand side of the painting was owned by his neighbour. This was therefore a very personal painting to the artist. 

Stev’nn Hall’s landscape is replicating his childhood memories of going for drives sitting in the backseat of his parents red box car driving through rural Canada. 

In conclusion both landscapes have huge similarities mostly in their subject matter, composition and colour schemes. Equally there are huge differences, namely in the physical processes in which they have both been created. Overall both landscapes are exciting and give a real sense of place making the landscapes come alive and evoke a real sense of atmosphere. 

Bibliography:

Marian Goodman Gallery. (2020) Tacita Dean. At: https://www.mariangoodman.com/artists/tacita-dean/ (accessed 17/03/20) 

Corwin, W. (2013) Tacita Dean. At: https://frieze.com/article/tacita-dean-2 (accessed 17/03/20)

Wikipedia. (2020) Georges Seurat. At: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Seurat (accessed 17/03/20) 

Abdou, K. (2017) Art History: The Evolution of Landscape Painting and How Contemporary Artists Keep It Alive. At: https://mymodernmet.com/contemporary-landscape-painting/
(Accessed 21/03/20)

Stevnn Hall. (2020) Red box car.http://www.stevnnhall.com/mixed-media-2008.php#red%20box%20car (accessed 21/03/20)

KM fine arts. (2020) Stevnn Hall. At: https://www.kmfinearts.com/artist/Stev’nn_Hall/biography/ (accessed 21/03/20)