The Grand Tour traditionally took young gentry through the Alps, where they could buy paintings of its sublime peaks.
Wolf
Burke’s sublime became attractive to some in the late 18th century. They took to the mountains, to record high peaks and narrow gorges in paintings. First of a new series.
Brunelleschi’s perspective projection was just a start. With optical instruments and later photography, painters exploited the visual effects of unusual projections.
Declared sublime, and named after the throat, they’re painted from the mid-18th century. Works by Wolf, Turner, Ward, German Romantics and more.
From panoramas to wide-angle views, the optical effects of Naturalist paintings, depth-of-field effects, and loss of depth through a telescope.
From Tivoli, near Rome, in 1757, through the Alps with Wolf and Turner, to remote Albania as seen by Edward Lear, artist and poet.
Palaces of Albert VII, Rubens’ own Het Steen, an imposing Swiss castle, Wivenhoe Park in hiding, and an Australian pastoral station.
Wanderers, wayfarers and pilgrims have walked across continents in search of wisdom, spiritual enlightenment, or a bite to eat and sheltered sleep.
Bridges have had huge impact on man, but aren’t normally considered aesthetically attractive. Paintings from van Eyck to Jongkind show increasing interest among artists.
Views of one glacier over 250 years show how it has changed. Others in Greenland and Iceland are rapidly vanishing too.
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