Inscape, in

visual art The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and texti ...

, is a term especially associated with certain works of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an artist

Roberto Matta Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren (; November 11, 1911 – November 23, 2002), usually known simply as Matta, also as Sebastián Matta or Roberto Matta, was one of Chile's best-known Painting, painters and a seminal figure in 20th ...

, but it is also used in other senses within the

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

. Though the term ''inscape'' has been applied to stylistically diverse artworks, it usually conveys some notion of representing the artist's psyche as a kind of interior

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

. The word ''inscape'' can therefore be read as a kind of

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

, combining ''interior'' (or ''inward'') with ''landscape''.

The psychological inscape: surrealist, abstract, and fantastic art

According to Professor Claude Cernuschi, writing in a catalogue for a Matta exhibition at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

(see external link below), Matta's use of the term ''inscape'' for a series of

-like abstract or

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

s reflects "the

psychoanalytic PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk the ...

view of the mind as a three-dimensional space: the 'inscape'." The 'inscape' concept is particularly apt for Matta's works of the late 1930s. As Dawn Adès (p. 233) writes, "A series of brilliant oil paintings done during the years of his atta'sfirst association with the

Surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

s explore visual metaphors for the mental landscape." And Valerie Fletcher, in ''Crosscurrents of Modernism'' (p. 241), writes that during this time Matta "created with startling mastery the paintings he called 'inscapes' or 'psychological morphologies.' " See also Miriam Basilio's essay, "

Wifredo Lam Wifredo Óscar de la Concepción Lam y Castilla (; December 8, 1902 – September 11, 1982), better known as Wifredo Lam, was a Cuban artist who sought to portray and revive the enduring Afro-Cubans, Afro-Cuban spirit and culture. Inspired by ...

's 'The Jungle' and Matta's 'Inscapes' ". The term ''inscape'' was later taken up by the leading Australian surrealist

James Gleeson James Timothy Gleeson (21 November 1915 – 20 October 2008) was an Australian artist. He served on the board of the National Gallery of Australia. Early life Gleeson was born in the Hornsby in 1915 and attended East Sydney Technical Colleg ...

, American

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...

ists such as James Brooks,

Jane Frank Jane Schenthal Frank (born Jane Babette Schenthal; July 25, 1918 – May 31, 1986) was an American multidisciplinary artist, known as a painter, sculptor, mixed media artist, illustrator, and textile artist. Her landscape-like, mixed-media ...

, and Mary Frank (no relation), and even a group of British

fantasy art Fantastic art is a broad and loosely defined art genre. It is not restricted to a specific school of artists, geographical location or historical period. It can be characterised by subject matter—which portrays non-realistic, mystical, mythi ...

ists founded by Brigid Marlin in 1961 and calling themselves the 'Inscape Group.' (The latter group may have had in mind another sense of the word '

inscape Inscape and instress are complementary and enigmatic concepts about individuality and uniqueness derived by the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins from the ideas of the medieval philosopher Duns Scotus.Chevigny, Bell Gale. Instress and Devotion in the P ...

', associated with the British poet

Gerard Manley Hopkins Gerard Manley Hopkins (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889) was an English poet and Society of Jesus, Jesuit priest, whose posthumous fame places him among the leading English poets. His Prosody (linguistics), prosody – notably his concept of sprung ...

. See the article titled simply '

' for more information on this.) More recently, in a 1998 review of a Mary Frank exhibition in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

(cited below), Carol Diehl writes, "Titled 'Inscapes', the

s are

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

of the

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

...." Also clearly referring to the psychoanalytical meaning of the word as described by Prof. Cernuschi and others above, the leading journal of

art therapy Art therapy is a distinct discipline that incorporates creative methods of expression through visual art media. Art therapy, as a creative arts therapy profession, originated in the fields of art and psychotherapy and may vary in definition. Art ...

was formerly called simply ''Inscape''. The journal is now called ''International journal of art therapy : Inscape.'' (This is not to be confused with the ''Inscape'' magazine produced by Brigid Marlin's Society for Art of Imagination.)

Architectural interiors as 'inscapes'

The word "inscape" is sometimes used, perhaps with a bit of poetic license, to refer to the domain of

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...

, suggesting that the interior of a house or building is a kind of interior (or indoor) landscape, a counterpart to the landscape surrounding the structure. This is the sense suggested by the name of the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n interior design school Inscape Design College, which see. It could be, however, that this use of the term is intended as a

double-entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...

, evoking those other meanings of "inscape".

References

Books

*Ades, Dawn. ''Art in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

'' (New Haven :

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Press, 1989) *Basilio, Miriam; Museo del Barrio.; Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.). ''Latin American & Caribbean art : MoMA at El Museo'' (New York : El Museo del Barrio and the Museum of Modern Art : Distributed by

Distributed Art Publishers D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers, Inc. is an American company that distributes and publishes books on art, photography, design, and visual culture.

, 2004) , (see Miriam Basilio's essay, "Wifredo Lam's The Jungle and Matta's 'Inscapes' ") *Casson Hugh. M. ''Inscape: The design of interiors'' Architectural Press. London. 1968, / *Fletcher, Valerie J; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. ''Crosscurrents of modernism : four Latin American pioneers : Diego Rivera,

Joaquín Torres-García Joaquín Torres-García (28 July 1874 – 8 August 1949) was a prominent Uruguayan-Spanish artist, theorist, and author, renowned for his international impact on modern art. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, he moved with his family to Catalonia, Spa ...

, Wifredo Lam, Matta = Intercambios del modernismo : cuatro precursores latinoamericanos : Diego Rivera, Joaquín Torres-García, Wifredo Lam, Matta'' (Washington, D.C. : Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in association with the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

Press, 1992), ;

Article

* Sandler, Irving H.br>"James Brooks and the abstract inscape"
''ARTnews'' (New York : Art Foundation, 1963) OCLC: 54034429

External links

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061107093903/http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/artmuseum/exhibitions/archive/matta/catalogue.html , date=2006-11-07
Review article by Carol Diehl: "Mary Frank at D.C. Moore - New York, New York", ''Art in America'', Nov. 1998Information on ''International journal of art therapy : Inscape''
at psychotherapyarena.com Painting Visual arts genres Landscape art by type