Landscapes After Ruskin
Redefining the Sublime
May 14-November 27, 2016
Curated by American artist Joel Sternfeld, “Landscapes after Ruskin: Redefining the Sublime” features paintings, photographs and sculptures by over fifty artists, selected by Sternfeld from the Hall Collection. The exhibition also features the world debut of Sternfeld’s video work, London Bridge (2016).
John Ruskin was an influential English art critic and social thinker of the Victorian era, who argued that the principal role of the artist is “truth to nature”. For Ruskin, this “truth” was more than just a technical representation of the natural world on canvas. Rather, Ruskin believed that all great art should depict the natural world as mankind experiences it. For example, the 19th century artist J.M.W. Turner, whose work was championed by Ruskin, depicted the trees, mountains, sky and water in his landscapes as ethereal and majestic, but also as overwhelming and somewhat threatening. By representing a landscape in a manner that elicited the sensations of beauty, but also of terror, Ruskin believed that Turner was able to render an authentic depiction of the sublime.
A joyful experience of nature is now mixed with a certain terror as the earth and its atmosphere are increasingly touched by human activity. The great uncertainty of the planet’s sustainability hangs over us like the imposing waves in Turner’s seascapes. In a world overwhelmed by human industry and development, Sternfeld demonstrates how contemporary artists can discover new beauties associated with nature, and in so doing, can invoke a new sense of the sublime.
“Landscapes after Ruskin: Redefining the Sublime” includes works by Joel Sternfeld, Naoya Hatakeyama, Gerhard Richter, Thomas Ruff, David Wojnarowicz, Adam Adach, Simon Aldridge, Joe Andoe, Richard Artschwager, Dan Attoe, Georg Baselitz, Christiane Baumgartner, Larry Bell, Joseph Beuys, Katherine Bradford, Christo, Mary Corse, Gustave Courbet, Christoph Draeger, Roe Ethridge, Spencer Finch, Eric Fischl, Andreas Gursky, Eberhard Havekost, Neil Jenney, DoDo Jin Ming, Anselm Kiefer, Carla Klein, Richard Long, Dora Longo Bahia, Florian Maier-Aichen, Tony Matelli, Carlos Motta, Bruce Nauman, Robert Overby, Raymond Pettibon, The Atlas Group/Walid Raad, Anselm Reyle, Michal Rovner, Serban Savu, Christian Schumann, Norbert Schwontkowski, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Tim Trantenroth, Debora Warner, William Wegman, Matthias Weischer, Ai Weiwei, Anke Weyer, Jane and Louise Wilson and Thomas Wrede.
INFORMATION
Hall Art Foundation
551 Vermont Route 106
Reading 05062
(802) 952-1056
Hours:
May-November: by appointment on Wednesdays and weekends.
Appointments are available at 11AM, 1 and 3PM
Images:
Scenes from Late Paradise: Stupidity
by Eric Fischl
84″x108″
oil on linen
2006-2007
© Eric Fischl
Courtesy of the Hall Art Foundation
Season’s Greetings
by William Wegman
12″ x 15″
Oil and postcards on wood panel
2008
© William Wegman
Courtesy Hall Art Foundation