Facing Eden: 100 Years of Landscape Art in the Bay Area
by Steven A. Nash, Bill Berkson
Category: Art

The San Francisco Bay Area boasts one of the richest and most continuous traditions of landscape art in the entire country. Looking back over the past one hundred years, the contributors to this in-depth survey consider the diverse range of artists who have been influenced by the region's compelling union of water and land, peaks and valleys, and fog and sunlight. Paintings, sculpture, graphic arts, photography, landscape architecture, earthworks, conceptual art, and designs in city planning and architecture are all represented. The diversity reflects not just the glories of nature but also an exploration of what constitutes "landscape" in its broadest, most complete sense. Among the more than two hundred works of art are those by well-known artists and designers such as Bernard Maybeck, Diego Rivera, Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, Richard Diebenkorn, Joan Brown, Lawrence Halprin, and Christo. Lesser-known artists are here as well, resulting in an exceptional array of approaches to the natural environment. The essays also explore key themes in the Bay Area's landscape art tradition, including the ethnic perspectives that have played an essential role in the region's art. The inexhaustible ability of the land to stimulate different personal meanings is made clear in this volume, and the effect yields a deeper understanding of how art can shape our lives in ways both spiritual and practical, how the landscape without constantly merges with the landscape within. Published in association with The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. The San Francisco Bay Area boasts one of the richest and most continuous traditions of landscape art in the entire country. Looking back over the past one hundred years, the contributors to this in-depth survey consider the diverse range of artists who have been influenced by the region's compelling union of water and land, peaks and valleys, and fog and sunlight. Paintings, sculpture, graphic arts, photography, landscape architecture, earthworks, conceptual art, and designs in city planning and architecture are all represented. The diversity reflects not just the glories of nature but also an exploration of what constitutes "landscape" in its broadest, most complete sense. Among the more than two hundred works of art are those by well-known artists and designers such as Bernard Maybeck, Diego Rivera, Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, Richard Diebenkorn, Joan Brown, Lawrence Halprin, and Christo. Lesser-known artists are here as well, resulting in an exceptional array of approaches to the natural environment. The essays also explore key themes in the Bay Area's landscape art tradition, including the ethnic perspectives that have played an essential role in the region's art. The inexhaustible ability of the land to stimulate different personal meanings is made clear in this volume, and the effect yields a deeper understanding of how art can shape our lives in ways both spiritual and practical, how the landscape without constantly merges with the landscape within. Published in association with The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.