Throughout history, artists have struggled with capturing grand scenes into the confines of a canvas. Alice Chase’s “Looking at Art” outlines the technical ways in which art has transformed over the past several centuries, accrediting changes to historical and social context. Chase examines ways in which readers can perceive and appreciate how artists translate emotions, space, perspective, etc., when creating art.

Chase explains how artists can’t recreate a scene in its entirety and must instead pick a portion or focus on a detail to express his/her point. This approach to expressing art varies across culture and time period. For example, an ancient Egyptian drawing of a garden pool would focus on communicating aspects about the pool and the creatures swimming in it rather than realistically depicting the scene as it seems to the eye. When ancient Romans would illustrate settings for certain figures, heroes were sometimes depicted with their conquests drawn around them in some way. Rather than record a specific moment, the overall piece would get across a message of victory and courage. The Chinese reproduced landscapes with a religious intent to express a man in relation to the ubiquity of God. “The Ch’ing-pien Mountains” is a long scroll that shows a spectator observing the vast expanse of land before him. The scaling of the small man to the never-ending countryside creates an atmosphere of reverence for God’s presence.

Chase points to an evolution of landscape in art in several cultures. Initially, early Western medieval art was characterized by flat and gold backgrounds. However, by the fifteenth century, backgrounds included images of meadows, mountain ranges, skies, etc. While some used landscape simply as a setting for characters and plot, artists like Hubert van Eyck saw scenery as a tool to the message of a piece, just as much so as the characters and action taking place. In his painting “Baptism of Christ,” John is seen baptizing Christ while God sends downa  dove. What can be seen as more impressive than the story taking place is the care put into the background; the extensive rivers and forests emphasize the beauty of nature. Common medieval belief was that God exists throughout nature, and utilizing this as a background for religious figures furthers the admiration of the magnificent world God has created. Landscape which once only existed as a setting for the story became valued as a different, but important facet.

An even more intimate view of landscape appears in seventeenth century Dutch art. As people began to view landscape in a more romanticized way, artists learned how to churn out scenic paintings without studying the effects of light and air. One method was by alternating between dark greenish-brown areas to lighter areas so that the final product wouldn’t give the impression of being flat in shades. This would result in a landscape with heavy brown tones. When artists invested more time into observing into color and atmosphere in the early nineteenth century, however, they began to stray from this convention. The landscape model with accurate details was then brought to the United States. Prior to the nineteenth century, natural landscapes were only used as backgrounds for portraits as settlers, who were experiencing living in empty, wild areas, did not want to be exposed to more images of the outside world. However, as time passed, the nation had secured its independence and was industrially advancing, resulting in a new appreciation for the countryside. The movement of people westward was reflected in the art, as most painted landscapes illustrated an overwhelming sense of largeness. The idea of pioneering into the wild West in this time was thus, a common theme.

While there were artists who focused on recording details through art, Chase mentions other artists who came to view art as a means of self expression. Emotional value would take precedent over representative accuracy. The famous “Starry Night” by Vincent Van Gogh paints a landscape with ethereal images; flowing trees and swirling stars fill the page. An overall dream-like atmosphere is created. Another painting that prioritizes emotional expression is Paul Cezanne’s “Mon Sainte-Victorie.” While the painting depicts a landscape that exists, Cezanne portrays the mountain range as overwhelmingly large, looming over a small town. He had incorporated his own experiences and feelings regarding the area. While the actual mountain is underwhelmingly small, Cezanne made this particular artistic choice to translate the greatness of the mountain when he himself would trek through the valley. These examples show artists inputting their own emotions into their landscape art. Viewers are then able to emotionally react and consider different perspectives, a process that ties humans closer to nature.

Although photographs tend to be viewed as the most accurate record of scenes, Chase mentions that factors like lighting and movement can easily skew what the photographer had envisioned. In ancient Egypt, for example, artists would sacrifice body proportions and other aspects of realism. While the product wouldn’t be accurate in terms of detail, the art would better translate the story at hand. In first or second century Italy, however, figures seemed to better follow rules of light and shadow, with origins found in ancient Greek mosaics. While there was little concern for accurate perspective in ancient times, scientific study regarding sizing and shaping began in the fifteenth century. Legendary Italian architects and painters like Filippo Brunelleschi and Leonardo da Vinci struggled with perspective after formulation of such laws. What ensued was the mass experimentation of perspective amongst Renaissance painters. By the end of the seventeenth century, the understanding of perspective resulted in numerous complicated artworks. The ceiling of Rome’s Church of St. Ignazio, for example, creates an incredible image of heaven that might not be as impressive without the consideration of perception. The eighteenth century Chinese and Japanese method of isometric perspective has no vanishing point or use of shadows, which the Western world is so accustomed to, but still creates a comprehensive scene. In fact, Western architectural diagrams uses the isometric perspective.

Varying systems of art were created and furthered by different artists of different backgrounds. Any artist has the liberty to choose his focus, whether it be on realism, self-expression, religious motivations, etc. Instead of pointing to one system as the primary model for art, Chase suggests that all genuine creation of art is valid.