Visiting the Fogg

This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to take an elective seminar entitled, Thinking about Landscape, with Tony Apesos. Not only did I learn a ton of information about the history of landscape painting and its key figures, concepts, and technical characteristics but I also had a great time! The first session was a lecture and Tony began by discussing the appearance of landscape painting as a genre in the 17^th Century. It is interesting to note here that in my post-residency research, I discovered decorative gardens appeared during the same time. During the seminar, we discussed several of the genre’s conceptual and technical concerns that I felt had relevance to my work. Tony spoke at length about early landscapes being based on schemas, which are symbolic representations determined by laws of nature rather than observational or plein air depictions. I came to the realization that my art-making process is similar considering I create stylized symbols based on the appearance of landforms and flora. This realization resulted in a resolve to exhibit more of awareness of schematic conventions in my work.

We visited Harvard University’s Fogg Museum during the second session of the seminar. On the way we took a short tour of Harvard’s Memorial Chapel. The chapel contains memorials for students and alumni of the university who were casualties of WWI and WWII. The WWI memorial included a statue by Malvina Hoffman that I found especially powerful.

Triangle Constellation by Carlos Amorales

Once we arrived at the museum, we were greeted by Triangle Constellation a work by Carlos Amorales which is a large-scale steel mobile of triangles set against the neo-classical architecture of the museum’s lobby. We visited several galleries and discussed a number of works, but the ones that I felt the most drawn to were Leander’s Tower on the Bosporus by Sanford Gifford and Rocky Mountains “Lander’sPeak” by Albert Bierstadt. 

Rocky Mountains "Lander's Peak" by Albert Bierstadt

I am fascinated by the idea of nature as the sublime, a sense of spirituality or the transcendent in the landscape, and surreal, emotive color. Some of the concepts Tony emphasized were that landscape is more than recording optical reality; it has the power to reveal nostalgia & memory, as well as, mystical, natural, and weather processes and that a sense of searching is something that is inherent in landscape imagery. I realized that the landscapes I find myself drawn to most are ones that are transport the viewer to another place, one that is idealized and fantastic.

Leander's Tower on the Bosporus by Sanford Robinson Bishop

Leander's Tower on the Bosporus (detail) by Sanford Robinson Bishop