Landscape painting depicts natural landscapes, including mountains, valleys, trees, bodies of water, farms, forests, beaches, and even artificial constructions, with their features grouped into a unified composition. We associate this genre with alpine landscapes, rolling hills, and garden ponds. But landscapes may also include buildings, animals, and people. Artists have resorted to various landscapes throughout time. Cityscapes depict metropolitan areas, seascapes, the ocean, and waterscapes freshwater, like Monet's Seine.

Landscapes are relatively new to art, despite their popularity. Early art focused on spiritual or historical concerns, not nature's beauty. Landscape painting originated in the 17th century. During this period, the landscape became the topic, not the backdrop. This includes Claude Lorraine, Nicholas Poussin, and Jacob van Ruysdael. French Academy rated landscape painting fourth. History, portrait, and genre painting were significant. By the 19th century, this new painting style was popular. It glorified picturesque sights and dominated painting topics as painters tried to depict their surroundings. Many individuals first saw distant nations via landscapes. Impressionists started painting less realistic landscapes in the mid-1800s. Monet, Renoir, and Cezanne gave collectors a new perspective on nature.

Landscape painting is a collector's favorite. Artists interpret the scenery in new and traditional ways, with landscapes dominating the landscape of the art world.

The most renowned and prolific landscape artists include Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (French, 1796 -1875), Camille Pissarro (French, 1830 -1903), Alfred Sisley (French, 1839 -1899), Claude Monet (French, 1840 -1926), Pierre Auguste Renoir (French, 1841 -1919), Isaak Levitan (Russian, 1860 -1900), Albert Bierstadt (American, 1830 -1902), Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin (Russian, 1832 -1898), Gustave Loiseau (French, 1865 -1935), Marianne North (British, 1830 -1890), among others.