Landscape Theory

Artistic representations of landscape are studied in a half-dozen disciplines (art history, geography, literature, philosophy, politics, sociology), and there is no master narrative or historiographic genealogy to frame interpretations. Geographers are interested in political formations (and geography, as a discipline, is increasingly non-visual). Art historians have written extensively on landscape, but there have not been any recent synthetic attempts or theoretical overviews. At the same time, painters and other artists often feel they "possess" the landscape of the region in which they live; that ownership takes place at a non-verbal level, and seems incommensurate with the discourses of art history or geography. Landscape Theory , volume 6 in The Art Seminar series, is the first book to bring together different disciplines and practices, in order to understand how best to conceptualize landscape in art. The volume includes an introduction by Rachel DeLue and two final, synoptic essays, as well as contributions from some of the most prominent thinkers on landscape and art including Yvonne Scott, Minna Törm, Denis Cosgrove, Rebecca Solnit, Anne Whiston Spirn, David Hays, Michael Gaudio, Jacob Wamberg, Michael Newman, and Jessica Dubow. Rachel DeLue is Assistant Professor of Art History at Princeton University. She is author of George Inness and the Science of Landscape . James Elkins is E.C. Chadbourne Chair in the Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His many books include Pictures and Tears , How to Use Your Eyes , and What Painting Is , all published by Routledge.Elkins, James is the author of 'Landscape Theory', published 2007 under ISBN 9780415960540 and ISBN 0415960541.