Architectural Landscape

Although towering skyscrapers, elaborate park designs or sleek modern houses may spring to mind when imagining architectural landscape, the 18tth century provided works that also captured faithful representations of the landscape. Characterized by the almost exact representations of urban architecture, The Grand Canal at the Church of La Salute (1727) by Giovanni Antonio Canal (Canaletto) is a “veduta" or view in Italian. Such veduta were created using different instruments, including the camera obscura which highlighted the monumental perspective of the buildings along the shores of Venice. By depicting imposing architecture under soft and glowing light, the architectural landscape as a genre no doubt inspired the artists that have since followed. 

If you delve into the selection of architectural landscape artists here on Artsper, the use of light can also be seen in works by Carrie Graber with her warm tones and exquisite control of illumination creating a perfect composition of light and contrast, she captures the beauty and subtlety of familiar environments akin to architectural landscape. Dita Luse also explores light and how it brings out the depth of space to create the sense of silence and solitude. The patterns created by architectural landscape art can entrance the viewer, or alternatively let one experience the moments of awareness and forget about time. Especially when architecture depicted in the past still exists in the present.