Rustic Landscape 19th-20th century

Onorato Carlandi’s “Rustic Landscape” is an undated watercolor painting which presents us with an image of the Italian countryside. Although on first glance this painting appears to simply depict a natural scene, the painting engages with the social conventions surrounding landscape art in the late 19th and early 20th century. During this period, landscape painting was a popular genre among the rising middle class, who desired images of idealized rural life. Carlandi's choice of medium, watercolor, was often associated with amateur art and seen as less serious than oil painting. Did this fact allow Carlandi to work outside the traditional art institutions of the time? To truly appreciate this work, further research into the socio-political context of landscape painting in Italy is needed, helping us to understand Carlandi's position as an artist working within, or perhaps against, the established artistic norms of his time.