

What do you think
these artworks have in common?
Let's investigate!
Describing what we see
can be a useful place to start.
Each of these artworks
depicts natural scenery,
including trees, water, and people,
which makes them both landscapes.
Artists have been
portraying landscapes
for thousands of years
because they offer
an opportunity to reflect
on the environments
that surround us.
Now, let's spend time
with each artwork
so we can learn
more about them.


This is a painting known as
"Landscape with a Calm" made by
Nicolas Poussin in 1650 to 1651.
We see a landscape
with a variety of features,
including animals, buildings,
and clouds in the distance.
Notice the color values,
or how dark or light
the colors appear.
They are darkest
in the foreground,
or the part of the scene
that is closest to us,
lighter in the middle ground,
and lightest in the background,
which is furthest away.
You can see the dramatic
contrast in values
when you see
the painting without color!
The color intensity, meaning
how bright or dull the colors are,
suggests distance
because they become
less bright as they
move from the foreground
to the middle ground
to the background.
This is a painting known as
"Forest of Fontainebleau"
made by Theodore Rousseau
around 1849 to 1855.
The title of this artwork
describes a specific location
in France.
Most of the composition
is filled with
a dense group of trees
in the foreground.
We can tell that
the trees on the right
are supposed to be
in the middle ground
because they are smaller
than the trees on the left.
The color intensity
of the elements in the background
is dull, making those
elements look very far away.


The color values
are mostly dark.


Now that we have
described these artworks,
let's consider what
they have in common.
Both incorporate elements
of traditional landscapes
like trees, water,
people, and animals.
They both also have objects
in the foreground and middle ground.
In what ways are these artworks
different from one another?
They portray space differently
through their treatment
of foreground, middle ground,
and background.
The space in Poussin's
landscape appears more open,
while Rousseau's landscape
appears enclosed.
They also use color differently,
with Poussin balancing
light and dark values,
and Rousseau
emphasizing dark values.


Now, let's share
our impressions of the artworks.
It's like a test question
that you always
get right because it's
about your opinion!
It may help to have some
background information
on the artists
so you can better
reflect on potential
meanings of their work.
Both Poussin and Rousseau were
French artists making landscape
paintings, but as you can see,
they had different approaches
and results.


Poussin preferred
ideal landscapes
because he wanted them to
suggest feelings of harmony.
This is not a landscape
you would see in real life,
but one that Poussin imagined
from his memories of visiting Italy.
Rousseau, on the other hand,
was interested in painting
exactly what he saw
in the forest near his home.
He wanted his paintings to
be realistic and portray
a unique time and place.
So, if you were going
to make a landscape,
what would you put in it?


