During the 18th century, there was
a large transition for English gardens, which lead to the English landscape
movement. This transition can be seen due to the anti-French sentiment at the
time, as well as the interest in neoclassicism and enlightenment ideas. The
thought of evoking sensations through landscape became very important, as did
the concept of ornamenting typical farmland. This push towards more natural
landscapes and drawing away from the more formal gardens designs were led by
the big players of this movement: Charles Bridgeman, William Kent, and "Capability" Brown.
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| Bridgeman's ha-ha |
Charles Bridgeman is often seen as the
transitional landscape designer who began to break tradition and stray away
from the norms. The ideas of writers Addison and Pope greatly inspired him and
his new take on the English landscape. Bridgeman’s single largest contribution
to English landscape was the invention of the ha-ha. It was revolutionary for
it’s time because it allowed the existing landscape to be part of and incorporated
into the garden and constructed landscape. Bridgeman still used axis, but he
also started incorporating meandering and curving lines in his landscapes. Kent
and Brown built their ideas based on what Bridgeman discovered, but took them
even further.
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| Kent's Rousham |
William Kent began his studies as an artist,
architect, and eventually transitioned into his most famous role as a garden
designer. Kent’s works looks natural, but every aspect is manipulated, shaped,
and contrived to give this beautiful, natural, look. Rousham is the only
existing original Kent work that has not be touched by other landscape artists.
Bridgeman originally designed the garden, but as the fashions changed, Kent
redid the garden over Bridgeman’s work. This was very typical for the time, and
Bridgeman, Kent, and Brown’s careers were greatly intertwined. They were
physically building off of what the previous designer had created.
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| "Capability" Brown landscape |
If you thought Kent’s landscapes looked
natural, you would be shocked by “Capability” Brown’s work. He designed acres
and acres of land in England, and often times people today do not even realize
they are in a "Capability" Brown work. It looks so picturesque, perfect, and
natural. However, every aspect and element is manipulated and designed. There
are mixed feelings about his work because of how much he manipulated nature to
make everything look perfect. However, his influence cannot be denied. He
worked on over 300 commissions and designed numerous acres throughout England. All
three of these innovative designers led to different developments in the
English landscape movement, with their different styles, content, and purpose
behind the designs.
Sources:
Many said that they work of a good English landscape designer was you couldn't see where their work started and ended from nature. This seamless and picturesque quality of their work is interesting. How do you think the art of the time, especially of landscapes, contributed to this trend?
ReplyDeleteI think the works of Kent and Capability Brown are perfect examples of this trend. Most of their works appear so naturalistic that it can be quite difficult to distinguish what is natural, and what they constructed.
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