Visionary Romantics. Balke, Lucas, Hertervig

This exhibition catalogue brings together works by three Romantic artists: the Norwegians Peder Balke (1804–1887) and Lars Hertervig (1830–1902), and the Spaniard Eugenio Lucas Velázquez (1817–1870). Drawing a parallel between their respective landscapes, they show how these artists captured their inner visions of nature through experimental techniques that to an extent foreshadowed the loose manner of Impressionism and other modern painting movements. We have no indication that they knew one another or had seen each other’s works. However, they all sprang from a Romantic tradition and they all focused – at least for periods – on landscape painting. Generally speaking, their works should not be seen as the naturalist depiction of a particular topography – even though they could be inspired by certain geographical areas – but rather as a landscape of the mind. They were visionary artists.