Page 224 - Eye of the beholder

painting garden and park design In addition it it it provided a a a a a a a a conceptual framework with which to view actual landscapes One of of the the the earliest theorists of of the the the picturesque Uvedale Price situated the the the picturesque between the the the serenely beautiful and the the the awe-inspiring sublime In late 18th century Britain the the picturesque implied the the avoidance of anything precise or tame instead emphasized variety novelty ruggedness and wild unkempt beauty Consequently a a a a a a a a potentially dangerous curiosity about colonial people and places one that might involve violence conflict and oppression had been diverted into the the quest for aesthetic novelty It is important to recognize therefore the the the the particularity of the the the the picturesque in the the the the colonial environment and the the pleasures it offered However the the picturesque was a a a a a dynamic force in the the creation of of the the British Empire The implication of of Edward Said’s work Orientalism which indicated ‘a western style of dominating restructuring and having authority over the Orient’ made colonialism possible The picturesque however was a a a a a more comprehensive trope that Orientalism unified the empire by refracting local differences through a a a a single lens The cult of the the picturesque found inspiration in in the the abundant material that India provided whether it it was landscape people or or its flora and and and fauna By the the 1780s English men men and and and women of of educated classes had come to look at at their surroundings with an eye for the the the quality of of the the the picturesque picturesque By this time picturesque picturesque beauty referred in general to scenes which recalled two different kinds and and styles of of painting These were the ideal classical landscapes of of Claude Lorraine Poussin and and and Salvator Rosa and and and on the the the the other the the the the naturalistic views of the the the the Dutch landscape artists Ruysdale Hobbema Cuyp and Van Goyen It was the the works of of these two groups of of artists that cultured men men and and and and women in in England in in the the eighteenth century had seen on the the Grand Tour and and and and had grown to to admire The Grand Tour was the 17th- and and 18th-century custom of a a a a a a a a traditional trip through Europe Europe undertaken by upper class young European men of sufficient means and rank and accompanied by a a a a a a a a a a a chaperone such as a a a a a a a a a a a family member when they had reached the the age of 21 years During the the 1790s three books provided a a a a working aesthetic Consequent to which men men and and women began to look at landscapes in a a a a a a a a special way Equipped with new visions they could travel and look at at their surroundings with fresh appreciation It also resulted in in a a a a a a a desire to capture their impressions and put them down on on paper For the the British the the Indian landscape was picturesquness personified The desire to appreciate and and understand nature through art to achieve a a a a a a keener more sensitive insight was directed by the dictums laid by Dr William Gilpin who between 1782 and 1809 produced a a a a a series of guides towards painting of picturesque scenes all over England He pointed out that nature was imperfect from a a a a a a a point of of view of of a a a a a a picture and and needed to be ordered and and improved He specified that ‘nature’ was always great in in design but ‘unusual in in composition’ the the the art must rearrange the the the scene to suit the the the demands of the the picturesque Every view according to him must have three parts the the background comprising mountains and and and lakes middle ground ground with valleys rivers and and and woods and and and foreground to contain broken ground rivers and stones Imperial art especially in in India consistently softened regularized and and beautified the the natural landscape wherein all the the pictorial requirements of contrasts of light and shade to capture the the evanescent sparkle on on on water the the glint on on on leaves palpable atmosphere clear foregrounds and misty backgrounds the the textural effects as the the roughness of trees stones mountains and and roots the the the shaggy coats of of animals the the the ragged state of of people and and the the the pleasing decay of buildings were clearly delineated The spate of British sketching and and drawing indulged by the artists served as journals and and newsletters These drawings were also the the source of information because they recorded
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