Why Paint a Landscape?

In his book To See Is to Think: Looking at American Art, Joshua Taylor asks, “Why paint a landscape?” At first, the answer appears simple. However, throughout the long history of art, painting a landscape for its own sake—rather than just as a background for another subject—is relatively recent. Among the landscape paintings in the Museum’s permanent collection, several responses to Taylor’s question emerge, indicating motivations that go far beyond just pleasant wall decoration.