Landscape: Pattern, Perception and Process by Simon Bell, E. &F. N. Spon,
£45, ISBN 0419203400
IT’s all over the world, everywhere and nowhere, but there wasn’t even a word
for it in English—not, that is, until the painters painted it. In fact,
the word “landscape” does not appear until the late 16th century, derived from
the older Dutch landskip or lantscap, terms which generally
referred to the landscape background to works of art with an entirely different
main subject.
But little by little, the background crept forward: by the 17th century,
landskips were portrayed for their own sakes. The…
