The Laila Peak 2017

Alfred Freddy Krupa made this watercolour painting called 'The Laila Peak' in 2017. The image presents us with a stark, somewhat romantic view of the mountain. We can think about this image in relation to a longer tradition of landscape painting. Before the modern era, landscape painting was seen as quite low in the hierarchy of genres because it was not focused on the human figure. But as Europe developed urban centres, landscape came to be seen as the symbolic form of an untouched nature. It represented a space of freedom, of respite from the structures of urban life. Here the mountain is rendered with fairly loose brushstrokes. This gives the image an immediacy, as though it were made quickly. The work offers a fresh perspective on the relationship between human society and the natural world. Historians often turn to sources such as travel writing, literature, and popular imagery to build up a broader understanding of the context of such works. The meaning of art always depends on the social and institutional conditions from which it emerges.