Seminar Task 2 Extreme Nature and the Discovery of the American West

Caspar David Friedrich Wanderer above the Sea of Fog 1818

William Henry Jackson In the Rockies 1871

Visual Language
Friedrich often used fog and twilight to create drama Friedrich here uses a large figure standing over the landscape whereas Jackson has a small figure being engulfed by the landscape: Mastery of landscape and significance of the individual within it Jackson uses the rule of thirds: places subject in the far right corner of the frame

Context
Jackson uses the notion of scale representing the greatness of the landscape, which can be both daunting and pleasurable Friedrich decides to incorporate human emotion into his image: his own personal feelings Notion of sublime: the depth of the mountains and greatness of the landscape is depicted in the scale that its captured: emulates notion of terror and fright.

The fog in Friedrichs work and the grey tones and height used in Jacksons captures this notion The landscape is something you cannot measure, Jackson using a lens on top of the mountain to scan the incredible Jackson in his photograph is more of a spectator gazing at the landscape. Looking through the camera on the top of the landscape: this presents us with the landscape as pleasurable as well as terrifying and huge in scale compared to the small figure: facing infinity

Where Jackson was commissioned to photograph the west and show the world what they did not know, Friedrichs approach or reason for the work was much different: He includes himself within the landscape; us as the viewer seeing it through his eyes as his back is towards us; as a young child he lost his brother in the Baltic sea when Friedrich broke through the ice and the brother attempted to save him. The sea of fog representing the Baltic sea, Friedrichs head lowered, being a spectator to the greatness of the landscape and the death of his brother. This isolation of himself: the fragile man in relation to the extreme landscape (transcendental)

Metaphorical meaning of wanderer: going into the unknown (Friedrich)

Jackson commissioned to photograph the American West, and in the images he is facing the West

Process/technique
Jacksons photograph shows a shallow depth of field having a similar background to Friedrichs painting: detail is not clear showing the immeasurable landscape, again this idea of facing infinity. Friedrichs oil painting: he used darker tones in comparison to paintings from e.g. the picturesque period Harsher tones and lighting enabled him to portray more of human emotion Used scale in his work and as we can see the sky and the mountains almost fully blend in with one another so there is no real definition to when this space/landscape stops: showing that it is against scientific reasoning and cannot be measured

Politics and Art

Industrialisation of America c.1850 Landscapes were becoming cultivated and artists such as Timothy OSullivan were commissioned by the government to show off this attractive space in the West: emphasising that is can be measured and it is its own world. He also looked greatly into more man made marks tracking the landscape rather than the natural landscape itself

Sand Dunes", Carson Desert, Timothy O'Sullivan, 1867-1868

 Friedrich and Jackson went against this, and went against the industrialisation. They wanted to capture nature which was free from restriction: there images capture landscape as never ending and large in scale. Wherever the cultivated land would spread, landscape would already be one step further as it is immeasurable.