The Poetic Landscape: A Contemporary Visual and Psychological Exploration

by Elizabeth Mowry

Artists and others who appreciate sublime depictions of the natural world will relish this contemporary exploration of what constitutes the poetic in landscape painting today. The luminous, richly rendered paintings that grace these pages all illustrate the book's fresh, timely approach that landscape painting represents a source of emotional and spiritual well-being, a fitting antidote to the hectic alienation of modern life, both for the artist who creates the work and the viewers who derive pleasure from looking at it. The author proposes that through his or her imagination, intellect, and feelings, an artist can evoke an emotional response in the viewer by the arrangement of the landscape's natural elements. In thoughtful examinations of her paintings, the author analyzes their color, time of day, season of year, climate and atmosphere, and the more elusive qualities that define this genre: a sense of place recognition and grace of line. The book is full of fresh insights that will enhance landscape painting for years to come.

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2000

Reviews

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a book of how to make art but the beauty and poetry of the landscape and what draws the artist there.