Why doesn't anyone currently paint wonderful landscape paintings like the old masters?

Question

I have seen wonderful landscapes painted by artists in the 1700's. Why isn't anyone painting like this anymore? Is it because no one knows how ? It's out of style? I have searched online and can not find any current artist that create equal paintings.

WOW great input everyone :) Im glad to hear from you all.

Answer 1

i would imagine its easier' not' to make the bed. modern art is just by way of excusing your self for having no talent. .......that's what i think any way......I'l very likely get death threats now. (or told that I'm a trogladite or something)

Answer 2

Just because you can not find an artist on the internet does not mean that they are not being painted. My friend make a pretty cool landscape last week. While it wasn't as great as the artists in the 1700s I thought it was great.

Answer 3

well you see, the paintings you are talking about were done during the flemis era. after that came the impressionist period, and now were in the post-impressionist period. another reason is that artists now have more of a sense of creativity, flemish painting are pure copying of an person, landscape, food etc. another reason is because of te medium, the old masters used oil paints and mostly wit pigments dug from the earth. a lot of artists today use acrylics, and some watercolor. on top of that there is the factor of pure talent. you see, the old masters had to do there oil paintings in layers and layers of thin glazes. iin order to produce glazes, a medium needed to be added to the paint, steadily increasing the amount used in more layers. between me and you the medium they used was called neo megilip. if just too little medium was used, the paint would crack. now then take todays artists and acrylics for example,have no rules when painting. you can apply lots of medium in one layer and none in the next with no cracking. so what i mean is that artists today dont have the patients, nor the abillity for tedious work. but in my opinion, the paintings of today have a lot more creativity.
now back to your question, you see landscapes are being painted today, but just not in the flemish style. now adays' u will see impressionist paintings full of bright, unblended color. this way of painting seemed more appealing since the original impressionists of the 19th century such as monet. cezzane and renoir. so they just threw the flemish stuff at the window and started over again. now just for an astonishing idea, a 24 x 36 flemish painting on canvas took about 3 months to 5 months to complete. now imagine micheal angelos ceiling in the sisetene chapel, years of work.

Answer 4

There is actually quite a resurgance of artists working in "traditional" styles right now, rebelling against the cynical, clinical, and intellectual contemporary art world. I guess you could call them counter-revolutionaries (or just traditionalists). Art magazines which focus on the "how-to" (i.e. - American Artist) rather than the "who's who" (Artforum) often have articles on traditionalist artists, and you can find some good paintings there. Local painting groups (depending on where you live) might also have artists who you would like.

Personally, I appreciate traditional and contemporary forms as well. Artistic expression is so vast and varied, we shouldn't allow ourselves to give in to the narrow-minded idea that "real painting doesn't make it in the art world today." The contemporary, academic art world is certainly cliquish (sp?), but traditionalists can be just as snobby in their way!

Answer 5

The world is very judge mental and if someone brings in this awesome painting that shows a lot of hard work not many people may admire it as much. As for me i like to paint and it's really fun, and if I do a piece of artwork I'll show my friends and family but taking it out into the public... people might think that you love yourself way too much which may not necessarily be a bad thing, but it's taking it a bit too far. We also have video games which a lot of people who are artistic(but don't realize it) would tend to play , instead of taking the time and patience to paint. Hope this helps ;)

Answer 6

The art world (artists, critics, gallery owners, collectors, etc.) seems to be a rather snobbish world in some respects. Landscapes are out of style, to them at least, and so are not valued. You can probably find some excellent local artists just by going to local arts & crafts fairs, but you'll probably never find them in the better galleries or museums because the people who look for art to put in those places aren't looking at landscapes.

Answer 7

They're definitely out there. Clearly you haven't looked hard enough. In fact, there are so many of them, that's why you never hear of any "masters," because so many people have "mastered" landscape painting. Walk along the sidewalk in front of the metropolitan museum of art, there are dozens of artists selling their wares, landscape painters among them. Look up galleries and call and ask if they have any landscapes on display. Lastly, google "modern landscape painters" and browse personal websites. There are so many out there, you just have to sift through the not-so-good ones to find the best.

Answer 8

There are many landscape painters today, but not many good ones. Two of the best alive today are Gerard Priault from France who paints brilliant and evocative works of the Amazon rainforest. Also Tim Wilson from New Zealand does amazing landsacapes from his home country.
Both are outstanding. Just search their names and you will find examples of their work.
Priaults work does not reproduce very well on the web but you can get an idea.

Answer 9

Landscapes are out of fashion because people take photographs now.
There are some landscapes to be found, most notably by Thomas Kincade, who is considered too commercial to be a real artist.
To find original landscapes, you need to seek out art galleries near national parks. Artists are now painting landscapes of familiar national parks, because that is where the money is in terms of landscape art. Second would be landscapes or 'cityscapes", that is, landscape paintings of famous cities such as Paris, London, or New York. You would have to do a search of artists near places like Yosemite, Yellowstone, and communities surrounding national parks for galleries containing current landscape painters.
Good luck.

http://www.xmission.com/~emailbox/glenda/bierstadt/bierstadt.html
this artist painted landscapes of Yosemite in 1902 ish.

http://www.nationalparksart.com/index.html is a current painter of Yosemite and other national park landscapes.

Answer 10

New era. I am sure some artist's still paint landscapes but you are just looking in the wrong places. It is a different time frame.

Answer 11

I like to paint landscapes...but they never turn out like the old masters. I also like to paint in abstracts with mixed media. Go to people's exhibit, galleries, art festivals....sometimes in the mix they will have what you are looking for.