Cityscape

Last updated
The Dam Square in Amsterdam, by Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde, c. 1660 The Dam in Amsterdam, by Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde.jpg
The Dam Square in Amsterdam, by Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde, c.1660
Tampere, Finland in the 1890s Tampereen Kauppakadun liikennetta vuonna 1893.jpg
Tampere, Finland in the 1890s
Dresden, Germany in the 1890s Dresden photochrom2.jpg
Dresden, Germany in the 1890s
Houses of Parliament, Sunset, 1902, by Claude Monet Monet Houses of Parliament, Sunset.jpg
Houses of Parliament, Sunset, 1902, by Claude Monet
Cityscape of New York in the 1980s Collage by Tom Sulcer circa 1970s.JPG
Cityscape of New York in the 1980s

In the visual arts, a cityscape (urban landscape) is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, print or photograph, of the physical aspects of a city or urban area. It is the urban equivalent of a landscape. Townscape is roughly synonymous with cityscape, though it implies the same difference in urban size and density (and even modernity) implicit in the difference between the words city and town. In urban design the terms refer to the configuration of built forms and interstitial space.

Contents

History of cityscapes in art

From the first century A.D. dates a fresco at the Baths of Trajan in Rome depicting a bird's eye view of an ancient city. [1] In the Middle Ages, cityscapes appeared as a background for portraits and biblical themes. From the 16th up to the 18th century numerous copperplate prints and etchings were made showing cities in bird's eye view. The function of these prints was to provide a map-like overview.

In Ancient China, scroll paintings such as Along the River During the Qingming Festival (Qingming Shanghe Tu) offer a panoramic view of the cities depicted.

Halfway through the 17th century the cityscape became an independent genre in the Netherlands. In his famous View of Delft in 1660–1661 Jan Vermeer painted a quite accurate portrait of the city Delft. Cities like Amsterdam, Haarlem and The Hague also became popular subjects for paintings. Painters from other European countries (i.e., Great Britain, France, Germany) followed the Dutch example. The 18th century was a flourishing period for cityscape painting in Venice (Canaletto, Guardi).

At the end of the 19th century the impressionists focused on the atmosphere and dynamics of everyday life in the city. Suburban and industrial areas, building sites and railway yards also became subjects for cityscapes. During the 20th century attention became focused on abstract and conceptual art, and thus the production of cityscapes declined. American painter Edward Hopper, who stayed loyal to figurative painting, created intriguing images of the American scene. With a revival of figurative art at the end of the 20th century comes a revaluation of the cityscape. Well-known living cityscape painters are Rackstraw Downes, Antonio López García, and Richard Estes. American artist Yvonne Jacquette has made a specialty of aerial cityscapes.

Selected cityscape painters

Selected cityscape photographers

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of painting</span> Historical development of painting

The history of painting reaches back in time to artifacts and artwork created by pre-historic artists, and spans all cultures. It represents a continuous, though periodically disrupted, tradition from Antiquity. Across cultures, continents, and millennia, the history of painting consists of an ongoing river of creativity that continues into the 21st century. Until the early 20th century it relied primarily on representational, religious and classical motifs, after which time more purely abstract and conceptual approaches gained favor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum</span> Aspect of art in ancient Rome

Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum has been both exhibited as art and censored as pornography. The Roman cities around the bay of Naples were destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, thereby preserving their buildings and artefacts until extensive archaeological excavations began in the 18th century. These digs revealed the cities to be rich in erotic artefacts such as statues, frescoes, and household items decorated with sexual themes. The ubiquity of such imagery and items indicates that the treatment of sexuality in ancient Rome was more relaxed than in current Western culture. However, much of what might strike modern viewers as erotic imagery, such as oversized phalluses, could arguably be fertility imagery. Depictions of the phallus, for example, could be used in gardens to encourage the production of fertile plants. This clash of cultures led to many erotic artefacts from Pompeii being locked away from the public for nearly 200 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hierarchy of genres</span> Ranks of different genres in an art form in terms of their prestige and cultural value

A hierarchy of genres is any formalization which ranks different genres in an art form in terms of their prestige and cultural value.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Master</span> Any skilled painter who worked in Europe before 1800

In art history, "Old Master" refers to any painter of skill who worked in Europe before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist. An "old master print" is an original print made by an artist in the same period. The term "old master drawing" is used in the same way.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman art</span> Art made in Ancient Rome and the territories it ruled

The art of Ancient Rome, and the territories of its Republic and later Empire, includes architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. Luxury objects in metal-work, gem engraving, ivory carvings, and glass are sometimes considered to be minor forms of Roman art, although they were not considered as such at the time. Sculpture was perhaps considered as the highest form of art by Romans, but figure painting was also highly regarded. A very large body of sculpture has survived from about the 1st century BC onward, though very little from before, but very little painting remains, and probably nothing that a contemporary would have considered to be of the highest quality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landscape painting</span> Depiction of landscapes in art

Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works, landscape backgrounds for figures can still form an important part of the work. Sky is almost always included in the view, and weather is often an element of the composition. Detailed landscapes as a distinct subject are not found in all artistic traditions, and develop when there is already a sophisticated tradition of representing other subjects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baths of Trajan</span> Ancient Roman baths in Rome, Italy

The Baths of Trajan were a massive thermae, a bathing and leisure complex, built in ancient Rome and dedicated under Trajan during the kalendae of July 109, shortly after the Aqua Traiana was dedicated.

<i>Veduta</i> Genre of large-scale paintings or prints of a cityscape or other vista

A veduta is a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting or, more often, print of a cityscape or some other vista. The painters of vedute are referred to as vedutisti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dutch Golden Age painting</span> 17th-century form of Dutch painting

Dutch Golden Age painting is the painting of the Dutch Golden Age, a period in Dutch history roughly spanning the 17th century, during and after the later part of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) for Dutch independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florentine painting</span> Naturalistic painting style developed in the 14th century Florence

Florentine painting or the Florentine School refers to artists in, from, or influenced by the naturalistic style developed in Florence in the 14th century, largely through the efforts of Giotto di Bondone, and in the 15th century the leading school of Western painting. Some of the best known painters of the earlier Florentine School are Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Filippo Lippi, the Ghirlandaio family, Masolino, and Masaccio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western painting</span> Art produced in the Western world

The history of Western painting represents a continuous, though disrupted, tradition from antiquity until the present time. Until the mid-19th century it was primarily concerned with representational and Classical modes of production, after which time more modern, abstract and conceptual forms gained favor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian Renaissance painting</span> Art movement

Italian Renaissance painting is the painting of the period beginning in the late 13th century and flourishing from the early 15th to late 16th centuries, occurring in the Italian Peninsula, which was at that time divided into many political states, some independent but others controlled by external powers. The painters of Renaissance Italy, although often attached to particular courts and with loyalties to particular towns, nonetheless wandered the length and breadth of Italy, often occupying a diplomatic status and disseminating artistic and philosophical ideas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Gallery of Armenia</span> Art gallery in Yerevan, Armenia

The National Gallery of Armenia is the largest art museum in Armenia. Located on Yerevan's Republic Square, the museum has one of the most prominent locations in the Armenian capital. The NGA houses significant collections of Russian and Western European art, and the world's largest collection of Armenian art. The museum had 65,000 visitors in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venetian painting</span> Art from the Republic of Venice

Venetian painting was a major force in Italian Renaissance painting and beyond. Beginning with the work of Giovanni Bellini and his brother Gentile Bellini and their workshops, the major artists of the Venetian school included Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto (1518–1594), Paolo Veronese (1528–1588) and Jacopo Bassano (1510–1592) and his sons. Considered to give primacy to colour over line, the tradition of the Venetian school contrasted with the Mannerism prevalent in the rest of Italy. The Venetian style exerted great influence upon the subsequent development of Western painting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lodewijk Toeput</span> Flemish landscape painter

Lodewijk Toeput, called il Pozzoserrato was a Flemish landscape painter and draftsman active in Italy. He is mainly known for his canvases and frescoes of landscapes and formal gardens with banquets and music-making groups. His landscapes had an important influence on the next generation of Flemish landscape artists such as Joos de Momper, Tobias Verhaecht and Gillis and Frederik van Valckenborch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hendrick van Cleve III</span> Flemish painter

Hendrick van Cleve or Hendrik van Cleve III was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and designer of prints. He is known for topographical views, including views of Rome and the Vatican, as well as imaginary landscapes. Traditionally, a large number of depictions of the construction of the Tower of Babel have been attributed to him but most of these are now attributed to anonymous Flemish painters, who are referred to as 'The Hendrik van Cleve III Group'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Aronson</span> American painter

Ben Aronson is an American painter living in Massachusetts. His work is represented by Tibor de Nagy Gallery in New York, Jenkins Johnson Gallery in San Francisco, LewAllen Galleries in Santa Fe, and Alpha Gallery in Boston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gennaro Greco</span> Italian painter

Gennaro Greco also known as "Il Mascacotta" (1663–1714) was an Italian architectural painter who was active in Naples during the late Baroque period. He is known for his architectural paintings, capricci, compositions with ruins, as well as his vedute. His vedute fall mostly in the category of the so-called vedute ideate which represent closely observed views of completely imaginary landscapes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pieter Andreas Rijsbrack</span> Flemish painter

Pieter Andreas Rijsbrack was a Flemish painter of still lifes and landscapes who was active in England in the first half of the 18th century. He is particularly known for launching the vogue of topographical views of English country houses and gardens. He was the older brother of the sculptor John Michael Rysbrack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alessandro Salucci</span> Italian painter

Alessandro Salucci was an Italian painter who played an important role in the development of the genre of cityscapes (vedute) of Rome. He created capricci, i.e. imaginary architectural perspectives and harbour views, in which the figures were often executed by another artist.

References

  1. Eugenio la Rocca: "The Newly Discovered City Fresco from Trajan's Baths, Rome." Imago Mundi Vol. 53 (2001), pp. 121–124.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Cityscapes in art at Wikimedia Commons