Centuries of Art @ Your Library - American Landscape Paintings in Transition, 1850 - 1940 March 12, 2007

Art has been described as the very essence of society, its beliefs, its mores, its social structure, indeed, the visual manifestation of a society in a particular place at a particular time. The tradition of American landscape painting mirrors the American experience. Landscape painting, which developed and flourished from the beginning of the 19th century, continually adjusted to changing attitudes toward nature-nature as sublime wilderness, as manifest destiny, as picturesque garden, as urban sprawl, and as urban decay. This lecture links the changing views of American landscape painting with the social and cultural history of America from the mid-19th century through the Great Depression.

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