A Tuscan Journey 2017

Giuliana Lazzerini made this 70 by 70 cm painting, A Tuscan Journey, on an unknown date. The appeal of the Tuscan landscape has a long history, stretching back to the Grand Tour, when wealthy Europeans would travel through Italy in search of classical culture. Looking at how Lazzerini uses a visual language of flattened forms and heightened colors, it's clear that she is working in the wake of 20th-century modernism. But the painting still evokes a recognizable sense of place. The cypresses, the rolling hills, and the villa on the hill all speak to a specific idea of Tuscany. As a cultural historian, I'm interested in understanding the institutions that shape artistic production and taste. The history of landscape painting, and its relationship to tourism and national identity, would be an important starting point for further research into this painting. The artwork's cultural context is crucial to its interpretation.