Nature has always provided tranquility, a sense of wonder and solace. Artists have been inspired throughout the ages. In Europe, however, art academies did not accept landscape painting as a legitimate genre. In this course we will examine some of the painters who challenged the established hierarchy. They include two Frenchmen who spent the bulk of their careers in Rome: Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain. In France proper, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Charles Francois D’Aubigny were members of the Barbizon School. Thomas Gainsborough and John Constable were proponents of landscape painting in England. Caspar Davis Friedrich exemplified Romanticism in Germany. Possibly some of the names of these trailblazers are new to you. One of my goals is to expand your horizons as art connoisseurs.

The class will be lectures with accompanying visuals, and class participation will be encouraged. Weekly preparation time should be 30-60 minutes