As part of the Automne de la Science program, an art lecture by Valérie Mettais on the relationship between nature and painters
“The invention of nature”: a curious expression to describe the work of painters who, in the West from the Renaissance onward, began to see the world in a new light. They depicted its landscapes, studied its atmospheric effects, observed animals and described plants, developed perspective, and reproduced shapes and colors, light and shadow… Above all, they placed human beings at the center of the universe, casting them as spectators contemplating nature as a staged spectacle. They framed and reframed, chose “picturesque” viewpoints, and sought to create the illusion of reality—at the same time, scientists, navigators, merchants, and slave traders were measuring, exploring, and exploiting the “resources” of this natural world. And while these painters became naturalists or wanderers to celebrate the beauty of the world, they also told human stories—mythical, triumphant, or tragic—present everywhere, whether in plain sight or buried deep within the landscapes. So what can the artists of yesterday and today show and teach us about a nature that is neither scenery, nor an environment, nor an extension of ourselves? An art historian, Valérie Mettais has written several books on painting and gives lectures in libraries.
Source: paris.fr — photo: “View of Bozen with a Painter” (1837) by Jules Coignet (Paris 1798–1860 Paris)