Inscape (visual art)
Encyclopedia
Inscape, in visual art, is a term especially associated with certain works of Chile
an artist Roberto Matta
, but it is also used in other senses within the visual arts
. Though the term inscape has been applied to stylistically diverse artworks, it usually conveys some notion of representing the artist's psyche
as a kind of interior landscape
. The word inscape can therefore be read as a kind of portmanteau, combining interior (or inward) with landscape.
(see external link below), Matta's use of the term inscape for a series of landscape
-like abstract
or surrealist painting
s reflects "the psychoanalytic view of the mind as a three-dimensional space: the 'inscape'." The 'inscape' concept is particularly apt for Matta's works of the late 1930s. As Dawn Ades (p. 233) writes, "A series of brilliant oil paintings done during the years of his [Matta's] first association with the Surrealists explore visual metaphors for the mental landscape." And Valerie Fletcher, in Crosscurrents of Modernism (p. 241), writes that during this time Matta "created with startling mastery the paintings he called 'inscapes' or 'psychological morphologies.' " See also Miriam Basilio's essay, "Wifredo Lam
's 'The Jungle' and Matta's 'Inscapes' ".
The term inscape was later taken up by the leading Australian surrealist James Gleeson
, American abstract art
ists such as James Brooks
, Jane Frank
, and Mary Frank
(no relation), and even a group of British fantasy art
ists founded by Brigid Marlin
in 1961 and calling themselves the 'Inscape Group.' (The latter group may have had in mind another sense of the word 'inscape
', associated with the British poet Gerard Manley Hopkins
. See the article titled simply 'inscape
' for more information on this.) More recently, in a 1998 review of a Mary Frank exhibition in New York
(cited below), Carol Diehl writes, "Titled 'Inscapes', the painting
s are landscapes
of the soul
...."
Also clearly referring to the psychoanalytical meaning of the word as described by Prof. Cernuschi and others above, the leading journal of art therapy
was formerly called simply Inscape. The journal is now called International journal of art therapy : Inscape. (This is not to be confused with the Inscape magazine produced by Brigid Marlin's Society for Art of Imagination.)
, suggesting that the interior of a house or building is a kind of interior (or indoor) landscape, a counterpart to the landscape surrounding the structure. This is the sense suggested by the name of the South Africa
n interior design school Inscape Design College
, which see. It could be, however, that this use of the term is intended as a double-entendre, evoking those other meanings of "inscape".
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an artist Roberto Matta
Roberto Matta
Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren , better known as Roberto Matta, was one of Chile's best-known painters and a seminal figure in 20th century abstract expressionist and surrealist art....
, but it is also used in other senses within the visual arts
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
. Though the term inscape has been applied to stylistically diverse artworks, it usually conveys some notion of representing the artist's psyche
Psyche (psychology)
The word psyche has a long history of use in psychology and philosophy, dating back to ancient times, and has been one of the fundamental concepts for understanding human nature from a scientific point of view. The English word soul is sometimes used synonymously, especially in older...
as a kind of interior landscape
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
. The word inscape can therefore be read as a kind of portmanteau, combining interior (or inward) with landscape.
The psychological inscape: surrealist, abstract, and fantastic art
According to Professor Claude Cernuschi, writing in a catalogue for a Matta exhibition at Boston CollegeBoston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
(see external link below), Matta's use of the term inscape for a series of landscape
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
-like abstract
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
or surrealist painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s reflects "the psychoanalytic view of the mind as a three-dimensional space: the 'inscape'." The 'inscape' concept is particularly apt for Matta's works of the late 1930s. As Dawn Ades (p. 233) writes, "A series of brilliant oil paintings done during the years of his [Matta's] first association with the Surrealists explore visual metaphors for the mental landscape." And Valerie Fletcher, in Crosscurrents of Modernism (p. 241), writes that during this time Matta "created with startling mastery the paintings he called 'inscapes' or 'psychological morphologies.' " See also Miriam Basilio's essay, "Wifredo Lam
Wifredo Lam
Wifredo Óscar de la Concepción Lam y Castilla , better known as Wifredo Lam, was a Cuban artist who sought to portray and revive the enduring Afro-Cuban spirit and culture...
's 'The Jungle' and Matta's 'Inscapes' ".
The term inscape was later taken up by the leading Australian surrealist James Gleeson
James Gleeson
James Timothy Gleeson was Australia's foremost artist. He was also a poet, critic, writer and curator. He played a significant role in the Australian art scene, including serving on the board of the National Gallery of Australia.-Early life:Gleeson was born in the Sydney district of Hornsby and he...
, American abstract art
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
ists such as James Brooks
James Brooks (painter)
James Brooks was an American muralist, abstract painter and winner of the Logan Medal of the Arts. Brooks was a friend of Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner on Eastern Long Island. In 1947 he married artist Charlotte Park...
, Jane Frank
Jane Frank
Jane Schenthal Frank was an American artist. She studied with Hans Hofmann and Norman Carlberg and is known as a painter, sculptor, mixed media artist, and textile artist...
, and Mary Frank
Mary Frank
Mary Frank née Mary Lockspeiser is a visual artist known primarily as a sculptor, painter and printmaker/illustrator.- Biography :...
(no relation), and even a group of British fantasy art
Fantasy art
Fantasy art is a genre of art that depicts magical or other supernatural themes, ideas, creatures or settings. While there is some overlap with science fiction, horror and other speculative fiction art, there are unique elements not generally found in other forms of speculative fiction art...
ists founded by Brigid Marlin
Brigid Marlin
Brigid Marlin is an American artist based in Hertfordshire, UK. She studied in Dublin, Montreal, New York, Paris and Vienna where, under the guidance of the Austrian artist Ernst Fuchs, she learned the oil and egg tempera technique of the Flemish and Italian Renaissance painters Jan van Eyck and...
in 1961 and calling themselves the 'Inscape Group.' (The latter group may have had in mind another sense of the word 'inscape
Inscape
Inscape is a concept derived by Gerard Manley Hopkins from the ideas of the medieval philosopher Duns Scotus.[Hopkins] felt that everything in the universe was characterized by what he called inscape, the distinctive design that constitutes individual identity. This identity is not static but...
', associated with the British poet Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. was an English poet, Roman Catholic convert, and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous 20th-century fame established him among the leading Victorian poets...
. See the article titled simply 'inscape
Inscape
Inscape is a concept derived by Gerard Manley Hopkins from the ideas of the medieval philosopher Duns Scotus.[Hopkins] felt that everything in the universe was characterized by what he called inscape, the distinctive design that constitutes individual identity. This identity is not static but...
' for more information on this.) More recently, in a 1998 review of a Mary Frank exhibition in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
(cited below), Carol Diehl writes, "Titled 'Inscapes', the painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s are landscapes
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
of the soul
Soul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
...."
Also clearly referring to the psychoanalytical meaning of the word as described by Prof. Cernuschi and others above, the leading journal of art therapy
Art therapy
Because of its dual origins in art and psychotherapy, art therapy definitions vary. They commonly either lean more toward the ART art-making process as therapeutic in and of itself, "art as therapy," or focus on the psychotherapeutic transference process between the therapist and the client who...
was formerly called simply Inscape. The journal is now called International journal of art therapy : Inscape. (This is not to be confused with the Inscape magazine produced by Brigid Marlin's Society for Art of Imagination.)
Architectural interiors as 'inscapes'
The word "inscape" is sometimes used, perhaps with a bit of poetic license, to refer to the domain of interior designInterior design
Interior design describes a group of various yet related projects that involve turning an interior space into an effective setting for the range of human activities are to take place there. An interior designer is someone who conducts such projects...
, suggesting that the interior of a house or building is a kind of interior (or indoor) landscape, a counterpart to the landscape surrounding the structure. This is the sense suggested by the name of the South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n interior design school Inscape Design College
Inscape Design College
Inscape Design College, located in South Africa, is registered with the Department of Education as a private higher education institution under the Higher Education Act of 1997. Inscape is the oldest privately-owned, multi-disciplinary design colleges in South Africa, having celebrated its 25th...
, which see. It could be, however, that this use of the term is intended as a double-entendre, evoking those other meanings of "inscape".
See also
- Roberto MattaRoberto MattaRoberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren , better known as Roberto Matta, was one of Chile's best-known painters and a seminal figure in 20th century abstract expressionist and surrealist art....
- James GleesonJames GleesonJames Timothy Gleeson was Australia's foremost artist. He was also a poet, critic, writer and curator. He played a significant role in the Australian art scene, including serving on the board of the National Gallery of Australia.-Early life:Gleeson was born in the Sydney district of Hornsby and he...
- SurrealismSurrealismSurrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
- James Brooks (painter)James Brooks (painter)James Brooks was an American muralist, abstract painter and winner of the Logan Medal of the Arts. Brooks was a friend of Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner on Eastern Long Island. In 1947 he married artist Charlotte Park...
- Jane FrankJane FrankJane Schenthal Frank was an American artist. She studied with Hans Hofmann and Norman Carlberg and is known as a painter, sculptor, mixed media artist, and textile artist...
- Mary FrankMary FrankMary Frank née Mary Lockspeiser is a visual artist known primarily as a sculptor, painter and printmaker/illustrator.- Biography :...
- Landscape artLandscape artLandscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
- Brigid MarlinBrigid MarlinBrigid Marlin is an American artist based in Hertfordshire, UK. She studied in Dublin, Montreal, New York, Paris and Vienna where, under the guidance of the Austrian artist Ernst Fuchs, she learned the oil and egg tempera technique of the Flemish and Italian Renaissance painters Jan van Eyck and...
- The Society for Art of Imagination (includes information on the "Inscape Group")
- Fantasy artFantasy artFantasy art is a genre of art that depicts magical or other supernatural themes, ideas, creatures or settings. While there is some overlap with science fiction, horror and other speculative fiction art, there are unique elements not generally found in other forms of speculative fiction art...
- Fantastic artFantastic artFantastic art is an art genre. The parameters of fantastic art have been fairly rigorously defined in the scholarship on the subject ever since the 19th century. There was a movement of science fiction and fantasy artists prior to and during the Great Depression, which were mainly cover art and...
- InscapeInscapeInscape is a concept derived by Gerard Manley Hopkins from the ideas of the medieval philosopher Duns Scotus.[Hopkins] felt that everything in the universe was characterized by what he called inscape, the distinctive design that constitutes individual identity. This identity is not static but...
(poetic term associated with Gerard Manley HopkinsGerard Manley HopkinsGerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. was an English poet, Roman Catholic convert, and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous 20th-century fame established him among the leading Victorian poets...
)
Books
- Ades, Dawn. Art in Latin AmericaLatin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
(New Haven : Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
Press, 1989) ISBN 0300045565 9780300045567 0300045611 9780300045611 - Basilio, Miriam; Museo del Barrio.; Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.). Latin American & Caribbean art : MoMA at El Museo (New York : El Museo del Barrio and the Museum of Modern Art : Distributed by D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers, 2004) ISBN ISBN 0870704605 9780870704604 (see Miriam Basilio's essay, "Wifredo Lam's The Jungle and Matta's 'Inscapes' ")
- Fletcher, Valerie J; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Crosscurrents of modernism : four Latin American pioneers : Diego Rivera, Joaquín Torres-García, Wifredo Lam, Matta = Intercambios del modernismo : cuatro precursores latinoamericanos : Diego Rivera, Joaquín Torres-García, Wifredo Lam, Matta (Washington, D.C. : Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in association with the Smithsonian InstitutionSmithsonian InstitutionThe Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
Press, 1992), ISBN 1-56098-205-5; ISBN 1-56098-206-3
Article
- Sandler, Irving H.Irving SandlerIrving Sandler is an American art critic and educator. He has provided numerous first hand accounts of American art, particularly around the abstract expressionist circles of the 1950s, where he managed the Downtown Tanager Gallery and co-ordinated the New York artists' 'Club' from 1955 to its...
"James Brooks and the abstract inscape", ARTnews (New York : Art Foundation, 1963) OCLC: 54034429