Theme: Landscapes
The GVSU Art collection contains over a thousand landscapes of varying styles. Below you can find examples of landscapes in the categories of Michigan landscapes, Japanese print landscapes, winterscapes, waterscape, abstract landscapes, and landscape photography.
Consider using a landscape in your curriculum or as a focal point for a meditation exercise. Learn to paint a watercolor landscape or explore GVSU's landscape by taking a building tour.
Armand Merizon, Arizona Sky, acrylic on canvas, 1986, 2010.23.1.
Landscapes in the Collection
Mathias Alten, Sailboats on Reeds Lake, oil on canvas, ca. 1930, 2013.68.1.
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David Lubbers, Traverse City, Old Mission Peninsula, Michigan, silver gelatin print, 2002/2005, 2021.6.65.
Jane Everhart, Near Alpena: Glacial Bog, pastel on paper, 1999, 2000.113.1.
Incorporating Landscapes into your Curriculum
The GVSU Art Museum can integrate artwork into your classroom discussions, assignments, projects, and more. Check out our calendar to see if one of our already planned events meets a goal for your students, or reach out to us directly to plan something tailored to your needs. We can bring artwork to your classroom; you can visit our art storage or office spaces or book a tour of an exhibition or space on campus.
The GVSU Art Museum team can work with faculty one-on-one to create lesson plans or assignments. Whether you are looking for a behind-the-scenes experience, something hands-on, a creative usage of art in your classroom, or a more traditional assignment, we are here to assist you.
Some ideas about how landscapes can be incorporated into your curriculum include: studying photos and paintings of landscapes to examine how our environment used to look and how human intervention has altered it (the sciences); using landscape imagery for graphic design and advertising courses; using a landscape as the setting for a scene or story (theatre and writing); exploring emotions and empathy through different landscapes (psychology and wellness).
To talk with us about creating a curriculum connection, please contact:
Jessica Sundstrom, Learning and Outreach Manager
[email protected]
Virginia Jenkins, The River, acrylic on canvas, 1983. 2012.127.1.
Explore More Landscapes in the Collection
David Lubbers, Half-Dome, Yosemite, California, silver gelatin print, 2020.33.11.
Landscape Photography
Mark Wilkens, Northern Glory, oil on canvas, 1993, 2021.84.4.
Waterscapes
Bette Young, Michigan Cranberry, Canadian Lake, Tullymore, MI, watercolor on paper, ca 2013, 2017.3.3.
Utagawa Hiroshige, Eight Views of the Environs of Edo: Evening Bell at Ikegami, Japanese woodblock print, ca 1880, L11.2022.1027.
Lona Zahran, Orchard, oil and mixed media on canvas, 2021.12.1.
Charles De Vries, Michigan Winter Woods, cebachrome print, 1997, 1998.210.1.
Winterscapes
Activities and Resources
Blog: An Artist's Winter Wonderland
While it sometimes can be difficult to appreciate a snowy landscape this time of year, deep into a Michigan winter, many artists have found a special way to transform the grey winter light into a winter wonderland.
Artist Profile: Armand Merizon
Armand Merizon was an artist who refused to be held to any one style or template for how art should be represented.
Blog: En Plein Air: Painting in the Open Air
En plein air or plein air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. Painting directly with their subject, the landscape around them, artists were more able to capture the changing details of weather and light that happens over the course of a day.
Past Exhibition: "Stephen Duren: A Life of Painting"
Stephen Duren's time alone with the land growing up in California would prove to be both formative and foundational in his approach to art and life. It drove him to paint outdoors, to seek solace from loneliness in nature, and to filter much of his painting through the land and amber light of Northern California.
Video: "Turning Grey: Mathias Alten and the Hague School"
Filmed presentation by Henry Luttikhuizen, GVSU Scholar-in-Residence at the 2022 Friends of Alten Fall event.
Activity: Watercolor Landscape Activity
Paint your own watercolor landscape activity instructions coming soon!
Artist Profile: Don Kerr
Don Kerr's artwork was heavily influenced by his travels, with landscapes near and far from his West Michigan home, dominating his portfolio.
Artist Profile: David Lubbers
David Lubbers is a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based photographer who showcases the light and shadows that can be found throughout the state's rivers, lakes, swamps, and shorelines.
Artist Profile: Foster Jewell
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Foster Jewell's landscapes include bodies of water and nautical imagery, prominently from the Great Lakes.
Artist Profile: Mariel Versluis
Mariel Versluis' childhood, which was spent on a farm, influences her work today, whether it be in her woodblock prints, drawings, or 3-dimensional sculptures. Her images includes themes found in the natural world.
Artist Profile: Utagawa Hiroshige
Throughout his lifetime, Japanese ukiuo-e woodblock print artist Utagawa Hiroshige created many series of prints that showcase Japan's landscapes.
Artist Profile: Ivan Fortushniak
Ivan Fortushniak's paintings call into question how humans can be better caretakers of the environment through beautiful landscapes scarred with images of decay, including airplanes, factories, and power plants.
Header Images:
Left
Mathias Allen, Michigan Summer Woods, oil on canvas, 1916, 1998.601.1.
Mariel Versluis, Hoffmaster State Park, Lake Michigan, oil pastel, ca 1995, 1998.354.1.
Armand Merizon, Dakota Farm, acrylic on canvas, 1987, 2014.1.1.
Center
Virginia Jenkins, The Road Ends Here, acrylic on canvas, 1995, 2012.134.1.
Bruce Baughman, Red and Purple Landscape, reverse acrylic, 1998, 1998.731.1.
Todd Rowland, High Sierras II, print, ca 1990, 1999.574.1.
Right
David Lubbers, Morning Mist, 11 Mile Canyon, Colorado, silver gelatin print, 1996, 2020.33.37.
Arthur Seth, Untitled, oil on canvas, L11.2022.249.
Stephen Duran, Chalk Hill Road, oil on board, 1999, 2000.056.1.
Art on Campus
For more information about the artwork selection and installation process, please contact our Project Manager, Alison Christensen; [email protected].
University Art Collection
For questions related to any artwork in the University Art Collection, in storage or on view, please contact our Collections Manager, Nicole Webb; [email protected].
Learning
For questions about integrating artwork into curriculum, please contact our Learning and Outreach Manager, Jessica Sundstrom; [email protected].