Painting genre depicting natural scenery. In China, landscape painting was well established by the 8th century. In the West, it did not emerge as a distinct genre until the early 16th century, although backdrops of natural scenery were used from Roman times. It flourished in 17th-century Holland (Hobbema, Ruisdael) and France (Poussin, Claude Lorrain), in 18th-century Italy (Canaletto, Guardi), and in 19th-century England (Constable, Turner, Cotman). Examples include Hobbema’s The Avenue, Middelharnis 1689 (National Gallery, London), Constable’s The Haywain 1821 (National Gallery, London), and Cézanne’s Aix: Rocky Landscape 1885–87 (Tate Gallery, London).
Altdorfer’s Landscape with a Footbridge about 1520 (National Gallery, London) is the first true landscape in Western art, although enhancement of the natural setting is evident in earlier works by Giorgione and Patinir.