Drawing the landscape between the 18th and 19th centuries

This article considers landscape drawing between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, from the double point of view of its practical execution and the theoretical considerations contained in the dissertations of the period. It is through the practice of drawing that the artists tried to raise the genre of landscape, then considered secondary, to the level of history painting, while any discussion of landscape drawing always made reference to painting. During the period under examination, sanguine was less used by landscape artists, while black chalk, very often combined with stumping and with white chalk highlighting on beige, brown or bluish paper took on an important role in the exactitude of a composed landscape. Stumping, in contrast to the purity of the line, grave drawing a painterly aspect, providing for the modeling of the volumes, and rendered the indistinct aspect of the reality. Black chalk, spread by itself, on a thick support, exploited the maximum of the possibilities offered by the grain of the paper, wich is left bank in certain areas as is seen in certain drawings by A.N.M. Mandevare. Landscape draughtsman, he often exhibited gouaches at the Salon. This technique maintained an intermediary statue between painting and drawing and, like watercolor and wash, allowed for the flexibility of execution necessary to the genre of landscape. Rapid execution was also secured by graphite, wich could be easily earsed. Its grayish tint harmonized with wash, and combined with black crayon it provided greater depth to a landscape drawing.