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Thursday, 21 January 2010

Landscape into Art by Kenneth Clark


Landscape into Art by Kenneth Clark The Contents Page
Landscape into Art by Kenneth Clark (later Lord Clark "of Civilisation" fame) is a classic book about the history and development of the landscape in art. I came across references to this book time and time again while doing my initial research about landscape art.
`We are surrounded with things which we have not made and which have a life and structure different from our own: trees, flowers, grasses, rivers, hills, clouds. For centuries they have inspired us with curiosity and awe. They have been objects of delight. We have recreated them in our imaginations to reflect our moods. And we have come to think of them as contributing to an idea which we have called nature. Landscape painting marks the stages in our conception of nature. Its rise and development since the Middle Ages is part of a cycle in which the human spirit attempted once more to create a harmony with its environment.'
Kenneth Clark
You can read the 1949 edition of this book online on The Internet Archive. It also appears to be available to download from the Internet Archive. You can also now preview this book on Google Books - if you find the right link! Above is a screendump of the contents page.

I have to get a 'proper' copy of this book not least because I love his categories of how landscape art works
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2 comments:

  1. Suzanne McDermott21 January 2010 at 15:58

    Landscape into Art is marvelous and underappreciated book that inspired not only the title of my watercolor blog Landscape into Art but also my thoughts as I have evolved through the process of my landscape painting over the past few years. I write about this book and it's influence in the Opening to my blog and series.

    It's great that you've found so many references to this book — which is really a series of lectures that Clark delivered during his first year (1946-47) as Slade Professor to the University of Oxford. I found only a few references, in footnotes, (and one or two snarky comments by more recent authors!)

    I wrote a post on Kenneth Clark that includes my favorite passage from the book and a pencil portrait of him by Cecil Beaton!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michelle B. Hendry22 January 2010 at 00:06

    That looks like an amazing book! I took a tour of the on-line version.
    Being a William Blake fan, I was pleased to find a lecture he gave on Blake in print. Ordered both books...

    ReplyDelete

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