Not everyone is lucky to find an apartment with a beautiful view from the window. But you can fix the situation: buy a painting, a landscape that will make you forget about the unsightly street landscape
. But first you need to think about what landscape
will decorate your room. Moreover, a properly selected picture can even push the boundaries of the room.
Deep philosophy or “pictures with trees”?
Most people say that a landscape is a peaceful picture, a beautiful natural view. This is a picture without people, which is why it is associated with calmness and emotionlessness. In fact, this is not the case. It is possible to buy a landscape painting that will evoke disturbing or even sad thoughts and feelings. A good landscape always has a deep semantic load and symbolic meaning.The landscape is not always true and realistic. A good painting will never be an exact copy of nature. Very often, artists of the past idealized nature — it was fashionable in the era of romanticism. But later they stopped painting photographically exact copies of landscapes, but added there what they wanted to see. Of course, more than a hundred years later, we do not know what the poplars looked like on the banks of the Epte, but we see them as Claude Monet presented them to us.
Poplars on Epte
1889, 81.8×81.3 cm
Nature rarely exists outside of time on realistic canvases. But the season usually has a symbolic meaning or conveys the emotions of the artist. However, you can buy a landscape painting of romanticism, impressionism
, and even one of the avant-garde
styles. There, the season can fade into the background. But any canvas has an emotional impact. Therefore, before purchasing a painting, it is important to understand how this landscape
affects you. Does it evoke a feeling of happiness or, conversely, sadness, lightness, or anxiety.
Delft view
1661, 96.5×115.7 cm
What should the landscape look like?
There is no single answer to this question. Many people who prefer the classical style are eager to buy a landscape depicting the nature of central Russia. This is probably due to the fact that the school pays a lot of attention to such kind of painting. And the notorious Bears in the Forest is the first association with the landscape .Therefore, people buy either reproductions of Shishkin’s paintings, or very mediocre works of street artists or Internet artists, which are not of particular value, but replicate images that are understandable to everyone.
Finding such canvases is not a problem. You can buy such a landscape painting in Moscow, St. Petersburg, in any city where street artists offer their works. It’s easier than looking for interesting paintings in a gallery.
Morning in a pine forest
1889, 139×213 cm
Of course, among the works of street artists, there are really good works. The question arises, how to distinguish a good landscape
from a bad one? The philosopher Henri Frédéric Amiel said that landscape
is a state of mind. If you feel the emotions of the artist, this is already a worthwhile work. If this is "beauty" that does not say anything about his vision of nature, refrain from buying such a canvas.
Light defines the emotional component in the landscape . If you compare a landscape to a canvas, light is both in brush and paints. Look at the painting from this point of view and think about what it is talking about. Listen to your feelings, because you’ll not have the canvas in front of your eyes all the time.
Light defines the emotional component in the landscape . If you compare a landscape to a canvas, light is both in brush and paints. Look at the painting from this point of view and think about what it is talking about. Listen to your feelings, because you’ll not have the canvas in front of your eyes all the time.
Airborne
1996
How to choose a landscape: practical advice
In addition to the emotional component, the aesthetic is important. The landscape should fit into the home space. For example, romanticism and even realism don’t look very good in loft or high-tech style. They need a classic interior, perhaps a country style or eclecticism.
Wanderer above the Sea of Fog
1818, 94.8×74.8 cm
But if the apartment is decorated in a modern style (loft, minimalism), then it is better to abandon realistic landscapes in favour of modernist paintings. You can find black and white photo landscapes and design them as posters. Or buy an avant-garde canvas by a young artist.
As it is the case with other paintings, size matters. Not always a wall-size landscape can visually expand the boundaries of a small room. Sometimes, on the contrary, it emphasizes its small size. It is better to "try on" the work before buying it — galleries often practice such options.
As it is the case with other paintings, size matters. Not always a wall-size landscape can visually expand the boundaries of a small room. Sometimes, on the contrary, it emphasizes its small size. It is better to "try on" the work before buying it — galleries often practice such options.
It only remains to find an interesting canvas. It is easier to buy a landscape in Moscow than in a small town. But the Internet has expanded the possibilities. You can find the works by young artists on social networks. Or use the relevant section on our website — we have collected works by 30 thousand artists, and their number is growing. To search, you can use the comprehensive filter and scroll through experts' selections.