描述
The city is a human-made spatial structure. It is founded on various legal, political, economic and social requirements that regulate its inhabitants’ coexistence. Its geographical or strategic location, a crossing point of trade routes on land or by water, a religious site or representative hegemonic places promoted urban development; natural disasters, climate change, epidemics or havoc wreaked by war often contributed to the downfall of great civilizations and their (capital) cities.
‘View of the City’ presents vedute, views and panoramas from the Albertina’s world-famous graphic collection. Featuring cities across Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, the exhibition shows various cityscapes spanning 400 years ranging from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. The drawings document the high level of artistry of the executing painters, architects and engineering officers. They attest to the artists’ masterly use of brush, pen and coloured pencil, and their trained eye for choice of location, motif and detail.
The diversity of this genre is illustrated by both miniatures and large-format panoramas. Drawings with a tonal colour palette contrast with depictions full of chromatic intensity; pictures enter into dialogue with expressive and abstract cityscapes.
