The topographical tradition describes a long-established tradition of painting largely or entirely concerned with specific places on the earth and their topography.
![](http://upload.luquay.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/A_Welsh_Sunset_River_Landscape_by_Paul_Sandby%2C_RA.jpg/290px-A_Welsh_Sunset_River_Landscape_by_Paul_Sandby%2C_RA.jpg)
In his article "The Topographical Tradition", Bruce McElvoy states that the topographical tradition is rooted in 18th-century British watercolour painting intended to serve practical as well as aesthetic purposes: "At the beginning of the 18th century, the topographical watercoulor was primarily used as an objective record of an actual place in an era before photography."[1]
References
edit- ^ "The Topographical Tradition", handprint.com
Further reading
edit- The Topographical Tradition. Albany Institute of History and Art.
- British Topography. The British Museum.