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Seeing Landscape through Artistic Practice

Håkan Nilsson argues that artist’s attitude to the masterpiece has traditionally been described as an act of learning or borrowing, inspiration or theft. On the other hand, to copy is also to appropriate, paraphrase and plagiarise. The copy is expected to threaten the original through its likeness (forgery is always close at hand). It is of course also a question of ownership, about the right to look/interpret, and about who has the right to have access to the original sources. 138  In a way, to make a copy is doomed if absolute likeness is aimed at, since it relates to acts that have already been performed, 139  and will necessarily miss the target. 140  It is this act of being off-target that I oppose to the expected ‘eternal truth’ of the original.


The moment we set our minds on comparing two pictures that are ‘similar’, we soon begin counting the differences, as in a fault-finding game. To look at the copy of a painting and the original side by side can also be compared to the way we use meta-pictures, where the eye looks for two ways of perceiving a picture or figure (the “duck-rabbit” is the most common example of this and often made use of by art historians.) 141  When we compare the original and the copy, look for the true and the false, or determine skill as opposed to clumsiness, it is convention that rules, not just how we see but what we focus on at the moment of seeing.


Until now, my method has been not only to display one vision beside another but to accumulate many juxtapositions of objects, paintings, viewing aids to create parallel visions. I have often played with the presumption of ‘objective truth’ in art history as it meets the gaze of the subject. The mastery to be seen and appreciated in the original is contrasted with the amateur nature of the after-image, which is often rougher, more colourful and contains other differences. Through them the viewer is asked questions about similarity and dissimilarity, depending on the way one directs one’s gaze. It raises the question as to who the narrator is in the different versions.


To pursue further my fascination with the relation between sexuality and ‘the copy’, I looked to Judith Butler: “If heterosexuality is an impossible imitation of itself, an imitation that performatively constitutes itself as the original, then always and only the imitative parody of ‘heterosexuality’ – when and where it exists in gay culture – is an imitation of an imitation, a copy of a copy, to which there is no original.”  142 

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Annotations | Images | Index

91: "After Canaletto (1697-1768), The Grand Canal from the Piazetta, Looking West, 1746", Matts Leiderstam, Grand Tour, 1997-2006, Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall.
Photo: Mattias Givell


92: "After Pierre-Jacques Volaire (1729-1792), Eruption of Vesuvius by Moonlight, 1774", Matts Leiderstam, Grand Tour, 1997-2006, Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall.
Photo: Mattias Givell

138 Håkan Nilsson, ”Originella kopior: om bruket av andras bilder i den moderna konsten", Falskt & Äkta, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm 2004, pp. 205-221.

139 Brushstrokes whose width, pressure and exact position are largely impossible to remake. Consequently, similarity is an illusion.

140 The originals, which are made from the inner layers out, unlike copies, which are made from the outside in.

141 The original, which can be traced to a German humour magazine, Fliegende Blätter (1892), became an important tool in American cognitive psychology. The figure has also appeared in a painting by Jackson Pollock and been discussed at length by Wittgenstein (Philosophical Investigations), Gombrich (Art and Illusion) and W.J.T. Mitchell, Picture Theory: Essays on Verbal and Visual Representation, University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1994, pp. 35-82.

142 Judith Butler Könet brinner – texter i urval av Tina Rosenberg, Natur och Kultur, p. 75. The English original is found in “Imitation and Gender Subordination”, from Diana Fuss, ed, Inside/Out: Lesbian Theories, Gay Theories, Routledge, London, 1991, pp. 13-29.

Åsberg, Stig
Page: 20(a.)

after-image
Page: 5, 5(a.), 26, 32, 34, 40, 48, 49, 55, 56

Akerman, Chantal
Page: 3, 3(a.), 57(a.)

Alberti, Leon Battista
Page: 27

Angelo Giorgio, Cardinal
Page: 19, 19(a.)

Armitage, John
Page: 51(a.)

Art Institute of Chicago
Page: 32

Arvidsson, Kristoffer
Page: 35(a.)

Ashburton, Lord
Page: 19(a.)

Augé, Marc
Page: 53, 53(a.)

Bätschmann, Oskar
Page: 33(a.)

Bal, Mieke
Page: 8(a.)

Barton, Judy (character in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 30

Baudelaire, Charles
Page: 44

beat, the
Page: 44

Beckett, Samuel
Page: 39

Bellini, workshop of Giovanni
Page: 28

Bierstadt, Albert
Page: 17

Bjurström, Per
Page: 19, 19(a.), 33, 57, 57(a.)

Blaugrund, Annette
Page: 17(a.)

Böttcher, Ann
Page: 7, 7(a.)

Bonaparte, Lucien
Page: 19(a.), 41(a.)

Bosch, Hieronymous
Page: 40

Brealey, John
Page: 19, 19(a.)

British Museum, London
Page: 22, 22(a.)

Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York
Page: 45

Bryson, Norman
Page: 2, 2(a.), 8, 8(a.), 27(a.), 44(a.)

Butler, Judith
Page: 48, 48(a.), 49

Calaresu, Melissa
Page: 9(a.)

Calefato, Patrizia
Page: 43, 43(a.)

Cavalli-Björkman, Görel
Page: 19(a.)

Cederström, Gustaf
Page: 46, 46(a.)

Certeau, Michel de
Page: 53

Cézanne, Paul
Page: 39

Church, Fredric Edwin
Page: 17, 17(a.)

Claude Glasses
Page: 5, 12, 18, 51, 54

Claude Lorrain Mirror
Page: 10

Claude Mirror
Page: 5, 10, 11, 18

Claudian
Page: 11, 14, 14(a.), 15, 17, 41, 41(a.), 53, 56

Claudian gaze
Page: 17

Claudian light
Page: 14

Claudian model
Page: 14, 14(a.), 15, 41(a.)

Cohen, Ernst
Page: 8(a.)

Constable, John
Page: 25(a.), 41(a.)

copy
Page: 4, 4(a.), 5, 5(a.), 20, 22, 25, 26, 30(a.), 31, 32, 32(a.), 34, 38, 40, 41, 41(a.), 42, 42(a.), 44, 48, 51, 55, 57

copying, act of -
Page: 31, 51

copyist
Page: 26, 32, 34, 40, 41, 42, 44

Courbet, Gustave
Page: 34(a.)

Crary, Jonathan
Page: 13, 13(a.)

cruising
Page: 8, 35, 35(a.), 44, 44(a.), 49

Dahlbäck, Bengt
Page: 20(a.)

Degas, Edgar
Page: 44

Dercon, Chris
Page: 51(a.)

Duchamp, Marcel
Page: 2, 45

Düsseldorf School
Page: 15

Dughet, Gaspard
Page: 27

Dunwell, Frances F.
Page: 16(a.), 17(a.)

El Greco
Page: 2

Elster, Madeleine (character in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 30, 31, 34, 38, 44

Fabiani, Bardo
Page: 43(a.)

Fahlcrantz, Carl Johan
Page: 14, 15

Ferguson, John "Scottie" (character in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 30, 31

Ferrier, Maïten de
Page: 32

Field, Cyrus
Page: 17(a.)

framing
Page: 7, 33, 35, 51, 54

Fraser, Andrea
Page: 40(a.)

Fredlund, Björn
Page: 8(a.), 19(a.)

Fried, Michael
Page: 28(a.)

Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Gothenburg
Page: 8(a.), 19, 19(a.), 46, 46(a.)

Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Page: 24

Gallerie Brunner, Paris
Page: 19(a.)

Gardner, Jack
Page: 29(a.)

gay
Page: 8, 35, 35(a.), 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 48(a.)

gaze
Page: 4, 5(a.), 8, 9, 13, 17, 20, 23, 24, 26, 27(a.), 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 42, 44, 44(a.), 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 54

gender
Page: 30, 43, 48(a.), 49

Georgel, Chantal
Page: 24(a.)

Getty, Paul
Page: 19, 19(a.)

Gilpin, William
Page: 9, 9(a.), 12, 12(a.), 16, 16(a.)

Giori, Cardinale
Page: 22

Goldfarb, Hilliard T.
Page: 28(a.), 29(a.)

Gombrich, Ernst Hans
Page: 25(a.), 48(a.)

Gordon, Douglas
Page: 30(a.)

Grünewald, Matthias
Page: 2

Grammel, Sören
Page: 30(a.)

Granath, Olle
Page: 4(a.)

Grand Tour
Page: 9, 14, 32, 35(a.)

Grate, Pontus
Page: 37(a.), 41(a.)

Gray Mirror
Page: 10

Great Chain Overlook, The
Page: 5

grid
Page: 24, 25, 25(a.), 26, 37, 38, 44, 46, 47, 49

Guerrilla Girls
Page: 40(a.)

Gustaf Adolf VI of Sweden, King
Page: 18

Hansen, Constantin
Page: 8(a.)

Harriss, Joseph A.
Page: 32(a.), 40(a.)

Hedén, Karl-Gustaf
Page: 8(a.), 19, 19(a.)

Herrmann, Bernard
Page: 30(a.)

heterosexual
Page: 48, 49

Hidaka, Ritsuko
Page: 24, 24(a.)

history
Page: 1, 7, 15, 18, 19, 20(a.), 21, 24, 26,32(a.), 35, 41(a.), 44, 46, 47, 48, 55, 56

Hitchcock, Alfred
Page: 30

Hockney, David
Page: 11(a.)

Holger, Lena
Page: 46(a.)

horizon
Page: 25, 27, 35, 38(a.), 41, 52, 53, 54, 56

Hudson River Highlands
Page: 16, 16(a.), 17(a.)

Hudson River School
Page: 17, 17(a.)

Hudson Valley
Page: 17, 18

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Page: 28, 29(a.)

Isakson, Karl
Page: 39

Kennedy, Randy
Page: 45(a.)

Kitson, Michael
Page: 22(a.)

Købke, Christian
Page: 8(a.)

Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia, Grand Duke
Page: 46, 46(a.)

Kopp, Céline
Page: 42(a.)

Krauss, Rosalind
Page: 25, 25(a.)

Kulick, Don
Page: 44, 44(a.), 49

Kunstverein München, Munich
Page: 30(a.)

landscape, Arcadian -
Page: 9, 35

landscape, cultivated -
Page: 16

landscape, designed -
Page: 10

landscape, Dutch -
Page: 10

landscape, lost -
Page: 16

landscape, national -
Page: 9, 14, 15

landscape, Nordic -
Page: 15

landscape, pastoral -
Page: 21, 34, 35

landscape,pictorial
Page: 14

landscape, Roman -
Page: 11

landscape, Romantic -
Page: 52

landscape, Swedish -
Page: 14, 15

landscape painter
Page: 5, 14, 17, 19(a.)

landscape painting
Page: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 11(a.), 14, 15, 53

Landscapes, Ideal -
Page: 9, 9(a.), 22(a.), 33(a.), 35, 40, 41(a.)

Landscapes, Imperial -
Page: 14, 14(a.)

Langdon, Helen
Page: 11(a.), 33, 33(a.), 57(a.)

Lawler, Louise
Page: 40(a.)

Lefebvre, Henri
Page: 27

Lenbach, Franz von
Page: 30(a.)

Liber Veritatis
Page: 21, 22, 22(a.)

linguistic matrix
Page: 25

Lorrain, Claude
Page: 2, 4, 4(a.), 5, 8, 8(a.), 9, 10, 11, 11(a.), 12, 12(a.), 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 18(a.), 19, 19(a.), 20, 21, 21(a.), 22, 22(a.), 23, 25, 25(a.), 26, 27, 28, 33, 33(a.), 34, 34(a.), 35, 36, 36(a.), 38, 38(a.), 41, 41(a.), 42(a.), 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 57(a.)

Louvre, Paris
Page: 24, 32, 32(a.), 40, 44, 44(a.)

Lyberg, Louise
Page: 32(a.)

Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, Stockholm
Page: 35(a.)

Maillet, Arnaud
Page: 12(a.)

Malsch, Friedemann
Page: 28(a.)

Manson & Woods, London
Page: 8(a.)

Martin, Elias
Page: 14, 14(a.)

Matisse, Henri
Page: 39

memory
Page: 7, 11, 17(a.), 20, 30(a.), 31, 35(a.), 41, 41(a.), 43, 51

Merleau-Ponty, Maurice
Page: 24, 24(a.), 27, 27(a.), 39, 39(a.), 55, 55(a.)

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Page: 17(a.), 24

Metz, Philip
Page: 30(a.)

mimicry
Page: 5, 6, 34, 40, 47, 49, 51

Mitchell, W.J.T.
Page: 11(a.), 14, 14(a.), 28(a.), 38(a.), 48(a.)

Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Page: 20, 40(a.)

Molvidson, Martin
Page: 46(a.)

Mulvey, Laura
Page: 30, 30(a.), 31

Musée Fesch, Ajaccio, Corsica
Page: 41, 41(a.)

museum
Page: 4, 4(a.), 5, 8,18, 19, 20, 20(a.), 23, 24, 24(a.), 25,26, 27, 28,29, 29(a.), 30, 30(a.), 31, 32, 32(a.), 33, 34, 36,38, 40, 40(a.),42, 42(a.), 43, 44, 44(a.), 45, 46, 46(a.), 47,49, 50, 51

Museum of Modern Art, New York
Page: 45, 45(a.)

National Gallery, London
Page: 24, 41(a.)

Nationalmuseum, Stockholm
Page: 4, 4(a.), 5, 8(a.), 18, 19, 19(a.), 20, 20(a.), 24, 27, 32, 32(a.), 37, 38, 41(a.), 46, 47, 48(a.), 55, 57(a.)

nature
Page: 7, 9, 12, 13, 17, 18, 24, 33, 34, 39, 43, 47, 48, 51, 57

Newman, Michael
Page: 51, 51(a.), 52, 52(a.)

New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans
Page: 8

new viewer
Page: 45, 54

Nilsson, Håkan
Page: 48, 48(a.)

non-place
Page: 53, 53(a.)

Nordic Light
Page: 15

Nordqvist, Per
Page: 14

Novak, Kim (actor in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 30

original
Page: 4(a.), 5, 5(a.), 8, 14, 18(a.), 19(a.), 20, 22, 25, 25(a.), 26, 29(a.), 32, 33, 34, 39, 40, 41, 41(a.), 42, 46, 46(a.), 47, 48, 48(a.), 49

painting, historical -
Page: 6, 24, 30, 35, 41(a.)

painting, landscape
Page: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 11(a.), 14, 15, 53

painting, lost -
Page: 26

painting, process of -
Page: 39, 57

Palazzo Riccardi, Florence
Page: 19(a.)

Pehrson, Mathias
Page: 18(a.)

perspective
Page: 11, 18, 27, 27(a.), 33, 44

Persson, Helena
Page: 8(a.)

Petterson, Åke
Page: 18(a.)

Phelan, Peggy
Page: 5, 39, 39(a.)

Phillips, Tony
Page: 27(a.)

Piaggi, Anna
Page: 43, 43(a.)

pictorial space
Page: 24, 25

pictures journey
Page: 8

Picturesque
Page: 5, 9, 9(a.), 10, 10(a.), 11, 11(a.), 12, 12(a.), 14, 16, 17, 18

Pollock, Jackson
Page: 48(a.)

Pordenone, Bernardino Licinio da
Page: 28(a.)

Poussin, Nicolas
Page: 9, 27, 33, 33(a.), 40(a.), 41(a.)

Prado Museum, Madrid
Page: 41(a.), 53

queer
Page: 4, 43

Röthlisberger, Marcel
Page: 8(a.), 19, 19(a.), 21, 21(a.), 22(a.), 34(a.), 35, 35(a.), 36, 36(a.), 37, 38(a.), 41, 41(a.), 42, 42(a.)

Rørbye, Martinus
Page: 8(a.)

Raphael
Page: 36

Rebekah
Page: 4(a.), 5, 15, 16, 18, 19, 19(a.), 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 25(a.), 26, 28, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 37(a.), 38, 40, 41, 42, 47, 55, 57

recognition
Page: 2, 8, 28, 38, 39, 40

Rembrandt van Rijn
Page: 19(a.)

repetition
Page: 5, 39, 40

restorer
Page: 18, 19, 19(a.), 20, 21

Roman campagna
Page: 8(a.), 34

Rossholm Lagerlöf, Margaretha
Page: 9(a.), 22(a.), 33, 33(a.), 34, 34(a.), 41(a.)

Rubens, Peter Paul
Page: 41(a.)

Ruiz, Raúl
Page: 40, 40(a.)

Sandberg, Ragnar
Page: 39, 39(a.)

Sandrart, Joachim von
Page: 36, 57

Sarto, Andrea del
Page: 30(a.)

See and Seen
Page: 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 29(a.), 44, 47, 49, 50, 54

seeing, act of -
Page: 27, 43, 49, 54

seeing, moment of
Page: 21, 48, 54

seeing, process of -
Page: 5, 26

seeing, way of -
Page: 7, 9, 14, 18, 39, 51

shepherd
Page: 4(a.), 19(a.), 22, 33, 35, 42

Shiner, Larry
Page: 40(a.)

spectator
Page: 11, 11(a.), 13, 29, 29(a.), 30, 33, 38(a.), 41, 43, 44, 50, 53

Stewart, James (actor in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock))
Page: 30

Stewart Gardner, Isabella
Page: 28, 29, 29(a.), 49

Storrie, Calum
Page: 44, 44(a.)

tourist
Page: 5, 7, 9, 9(a.), 10, 13, 18, 54

translate
Page: 2(a.), 11, 19(a.), 26, 39, 46

translation
Page: 1, 18(a.), 19(a.), 27(a.), 39(a.), 55(a.), 57(a.)

traveller
Page: 9, 10, 14, 53

Turner, J.M.W.
Page: 11

US Military Academy at West Point, New York State
Page: 5, 16, 17, 18, 54

vanishing point
Page: 11, 27, 51, 52

Vertigo
Page: 30, 30(a.), 31, 38, 44

Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Page: 43

viewer
Page: 2, 4, 5, 7, 13, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, 24(a.), 26, 27, 28, 29, 29(a.), 30, 33, 34, 38, 40, 41(a.), 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 54

viewing, act of -
Page: 13

viewing, conditions of -
Page: 44

viewing, modes of -
Page: 13

viewing aids / instruments
Page: 10, 13, 48

viewing point
Page: 13, 52

Virgil
Page: 9, 9(a.)

Virilio, Paul
Page: 51, 52

Warner, Deborah Jean
Page: 10, 10(a.), 12, 12(a.)

Williams, Raymond
Page: 7, 7(a.), 10, 10(a.)

Wittgenstein
Page: 48(a.)

Wood, Marjorie 'Midge' (character in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 31

X-ray
Page: 18(a.), 19, 19(a.), 55, 56

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