1. Evolution and the Hudson River School (1825-1875)
Refuge and Prospect
Evolution and
the Hudson River School
( )

2. Jay Appleton, The Experience of Landscape. London: John Wiley, 1975
Prospect-Refuge Theory
Notes on Jay Appleton, The Experience of Landscape. London: John Wiley, Habitat theory: "aesthetic satisfaction, experienced in the contemplation of landscape, stems from the spontaneous perception of landscape features which, in their shapes, colours, spatial arrangements and other visible attributes, act as sign-stimuli indicative of environmental conditions favourable to survival, whether they really are favourable or not." (p. 69)
Prospect-refuge: "at both human and sub-human level the ability to see and the ability to hide are both important in calculating a creature's survival prospects Where he has an unimpeded opportunity to see we can call it a prospect. Where he has an opportunity to hide, a refuge To this aesthetic hypothesis we can apply the name prospect-refuge theory." (p. 73)
Types of prospect:
the panorama (wide view); interrupted panorama (imagination able to complete)
the vista (restricted by margins), usually defined by vertical boundaries; may be horizontal (e.g., under trees; from cave entrance)
indirect: secondary panorama (a vantage point elsewhere, potential view: e.g., tower, crag, horizon)
indirect: secondary vista: deflected (e.g., bend in river), offset (e.g., break in hedge)

4. Asher B. Durand ( ), An Old Man's Reminiscences, 1845, oil on canvas, 51 x 70 1/2 inches (framed),

5. Frederick Church, Andean Scene

7. Guilin Painting