Art of Reading: Canadian Landscape Painting and Modernism

This essay, titled "Art of Reading," analyzes the impact of race, wilderness, and territory on Canadian landscape painting, drawing on the work of Scott Watson. It examines how modernist art, particularly painting, reflected the conquest of imagination and the influence of national ideals, political ambiguity, and racial identity. The essay discusses how regional variations and geographic locations influenced artistic inspiration, exploring the relationship between different races and the natural environment. It highlights the development of a Canadian modernist idiom through regional variations, showcasing the impact of cultural and racial factors on the art form. The essay references the work of Scott Watson and provides insights into the factors of difference and variations in terms of origin, race and culture.

Running Head: ART OF READING
Art of Reading
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note

1ART OF READING
The concern of the essay is to argue in favor of the article of Scott Watson and
thereby substantiate the fact that the issues of race and origin are closely linked with the
factors of wilderness and territories and as such create notable impact on the art of the region
concern. However, the particular concern of the essay would be to evaluate the impact of the
factors on the Canadian paintings, special the genre of landscape.
In the beginning of the essay, Scott draws in from Frye to propose that the realm of
painting and poem, which were modernist in its outlook. The paintings of the time concerned
carried emphasize on the vision of conquest. It appeared as if that the conquest of imagination
was possible through the paintings, which was already under conquest by the factors of state
and that of economy (Watson). As such, the aspect of the art movement was deeply marked
by the national ideals of the people. This is also marked by political and racial ambiguity. As
such it is required of the people to reclaim their racial identity through the expression of art.
In the opinion of Houesser, the regional variation and geographic location impacted the
inspiration of the art. In another way, there was the pressure of succumbing to a particular
form of spiritual art. The argument therefore continues on the line that the close proximity of
different races with the nature around them affected their imagination on a greater extent and
in turn the nature of the art form (Watson).
The discussion of the essay therefore brings forth the different aspects of the paintings
of Canadian origin and explicates in front of us the factors of difference and variations in
terms of origin, race and culture. The urge of the people coming from different parts of
Canada towards establishing their claim over their land was embodied in their attempt to
provide their imagination with an embodied nature. It is because of their conjugal existence
since time immemorial; the development of the Canadian modernist idiom of arts developed
with these regional variations and as such became a testimony of the same.

2ART OF READING

3ART OF READING
Works Cited
Watson, Scott. "Race, wilderness, territory and the origins of modern Canadian landscape
painting." Semiotext (e) 6.2 (1994): 93-104.