Nature Journal 13


Landscape Paintings
            Yesterday, the Treks and Texts class took a quick field trip to the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth to look at the nature landscape paintings. At first, I was concerned about the whole expedition because I know and understand little about art and was thus concerned about my ability to truly appreciate and admire the artwork. I also was skeptical of the overall experience because I was not sure how just staring at brushed oil on a canvas would bring me any greater understanding of our natural world. Could I not just google some actual photographs of nature or perhaps watch a documentary and see some film of a gorgeous landscape in order to better appreciate nature and landscapes.
            As I walked through the gallery, I was not immediately impressed. I just meandered from frame to frame trying to fill the time. Then I stumbled upon a painting that made me stop. It was one of those rare moments in life when a piece of art speaks to you. It speaks to you without understanding language or you understanding art. You just know that this art is good, and this art is important. For me, it was a painting of a storm on a bay. It was painting by someone named Heade, and it immediately stuck out to me. It was darker than the other paintings and seemed angry and a little melancholy. There was a gentle power to it and was soothing to look at but also aggressive to watch. It was a reaction to art that I had never felt before that painting.
            It was then that I realized why we had come to the Amon Carter Museum. It was not because the paintings were there to give me some realistic view of the world or display nature as it truly exists. No, these paintings were art and thus they were similar to the readings we had read in class. They were a representation of the artist’s interaction with the world. The paintings were as valuable as the readings because each one had something to say about human interaction with the world and should be treated with the same reverence that we give to nature writings.

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