Natural Encounters: Part 1

In a technology-driven society and at a time of unprecedented climate change, this exhibition raises fundamental questions around the role of nature in art as well as its potential to help us reflect on our own psyches, current ecological issues and our relationship with nature.

By the time an English school of landscape had been established in the 1700s, there were two — supposedly opposite but often intertwined — traditions that summarised artists’ concerns. 

One was the classical which offered a pastoral ideal, characterised by a harmonic, stylised and orderly version of nature, strongly influenced by Italian landscapes.

The other trend was the naturalistic in which nature was rendered with varying degrees of accuracy. 

Over time, artists also sought to evoke a particular mood or atmosphere through the effects of light and colour.  

The search for the picturesque and the sublime in the 1700s and 1800s brought with it an appreciation for rough, dramatic, frightening and wild scenes.

In the 1900s, the influence of French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, with their intense and subjective use of colour, gave way to more personal, reductive and spontaneous artistic languages, while domesticated interpretations of nature prevailed.

These intrinsic changes can be subtle or dramatic, showing nature’s fragility or power, which can also speak about the insignificance of human beings. 

During the 1700s and 1800s, artists reminded us of the human desire to conquer the landscape through their presence in the wild. 

Other artworks in this section consider different types of modifications brought to nature by people. 

Meanwhile, others focused on nature’s capacity to take back control by reinstating itself amidst the ruins. 

Some contemporary artists, especially within the British Land Art movement, have explored alternative and respectful ways to work with or in nature. 

Other contemporary practitioners look at sustainable human interventions that tackle current ecological issues and can ultimately help us protect our planet.