Landscape with Riverbed and Mountains 1770 - 1786

Alexander Cozens made this landscape with gray wash and pen and ink, somewhere in Europe, during the 18th century. The scene depicts a rugged landscape, with mountains rising in the distance and a rocky riverbed in the foreground. But this wasn't just a depiction of nature; it reflected changing ideas about the sublime. In the 18th century, thinkers began to value the awe-inspiring, even terrifying aspects of nature. Cozens’ landscape, with its rough textures and imposing mountains, embodies this aesthetic. The picturesque favored a more controlled, idealized view. Cozens' work anticipates later Romantic painters, who fully embraced the power and drama of untamed nature. Studying Cozens' life and the art criticism of his time helps us understand how his art engaged with these emerging ideas and how artistic taste is always shaped by social and intellectual currents.