Buss: Dynamic Landscapes

Franca Buss, M.A.: Dynamic Landscapes. Man and Nature between 1300 and 1850

The aesthetic discovery of the landscape has been regarded, at the latest since Joachim Ritter’s influential 1963 essay, as the result of a distancing of humans from nature. Ritter defines the landscape as an object of contemplation that reveals itself from a specific vantage point, once the practical use of nature has been set aside. Such an understanding not only separates utilitarian use (uti) from pleasurable contemplation (frui), but also deems the category of force irrelevant for aesthetic consideration.

This study offers a counterpoint by examining European landscape representations from 1300 to 1850 with a focus on dynamics and force. In contrast to traditional approaches that understand landscape painting primarily as a representation of static spatial arrangements or as a projection of human emotional states, this study centers on the conception and depiction of landscape as an energetic system. At its core are landscape images that aesthetically reflect and render visible the natural, cultural, and economic power relations that shape the landscape.

Methodologically, the project combines art historical close readings with a contextualized examination of developments in the history of science and ideas. Particular attention is paid to historical turning points at which the relationship between dynamics and landscape space is redefined and reconsidered. It becomes evident that landscape painting not only responded to changing conceptions of nature, but also served as a medium in which new understandings of natural forces could be negotiated and explored.

In this way, the study contributes not only to the understanding of landscape painting as a medium relevant to the history of knowledge, but also offers a historical perspective on current questions concerning the relationship between humans and the natural environment. It shows how the understanding of landscape as a dynamic field of forces emerged and evolved. The aim is to offer a way out of the dilemma between the objectification of nature on one hand, and its nostalgic-romantic idealization on the other.