Art and Climate

Apocalyptic red skies blanketing California and Oregon since the ignition of devastating wildfires have unsettled the world.  This reddening occurs as a result of the dominance of smoke particles which are larger than the typically dominant oxygen particles.  The smoke creates the appearance of red light because the larger particles scatter longer wavelengths more effectively- a process known as Mie scattering.  The scattering of shorter wavelengths of blue light by smaller oxygen particles on a clear day is known as Rayleigh scattering.  This color dynamic was the focus of a study by a group of Greek scientists who analysed over 500 landscape paintings created between 1500-2000.  The paintings were separated into volcanic and non-volcanic groups, based on their dates of completion and chronological proximity to significant volcanic eruptions over the time period.  Scientific analysis of the pigmentation of works created within the volcanic time frame consistently and overwhelmingly featured greater ratios of red to green proving the works to be a reliable source of proxy data.  The results of this study transmuted these glorious impressionist masterpieces from adornments of the world’s most highly respected museums to a stunning scientific data set that helped scientists understand how the atmosphere responds to climate events.

Claude Monet’s Sunset at Pourville, 1882       Vincent Van Gogh’s The Old Tower in the Fields, 1884

These works highlight the intensity of the contrast of color ratio between works depicting sunsets before and after the eruption of Mount Krakatoa in 1883.

Lone polar bears adrift on rapidly shrinking Arctic sea ice have long illustrated for us that locations which once sustained certain species can no longer support them.  Although increasingly urgent, permanent and dire, this phenomenon is not new.  Shifts in climate altering native habitats can be traced back to prehistoric cave art.  Cave paintings typically displayed the daily life and surroundings of the artist.  By observing the flora and fauna depicted in these works, we can infer the relative climate of an area at the time, and later confirm the accuracy of the art through archaeological findings.  Some examples are clear cut: representations of camels and palm trees indicate a hot climate while fir trees and reindeer represent a cold one.  Other examples are from more naturally temperate climates and are dynamic, subtly shifting over time.  By tracking the gradual introduction of and removal of particular plants and animals over time can give us a reliable indication of changes in climate.  In some striking examples, cave art depicts certain species flourishing in regions where today, the same animals are no longer able to inhabit.  This provides proof to scientists of shifts in climate from the hands of artists who lived thousands of years ago.  This prehistoric depiction of a giraffe was found in a cave in Hoggar, Algeria, where the surrounding land no longer supports the species indicating a significant change in the local climate.     

In 2018, Italian tourists found themselves trudging through Venice’s San Marco Square with suitcases over their heads and water up to their waists.  This moment sounded the alarm for the impact of a rising sea and its setting couldn’t have been more valuable.  Not only did it begin to make westerners, previously accustomed to viewing the rising sea’s impact on far-flung locales like the Maldives or the Arctic, identify with the issue but it provided the ideal setting for precision calculations of sea-level rise thanks to the works of 18th Century painter, Giovanni Antonio Canaletto.  In the creation of his paintings, Canaletto utilized a method of painting hailed as a precursor to the camera called Camera Obscura.  This is a natural optical phenomenon that occurs when a scene on one side of a screen is projected through a small hole as a reversed and inverted image on a canvas.  This technique ensured that his paintings could be relied upon as an exact freeze frame of the sea level in the mid-1700s.  The changes detailed in these algal level comparisons indicate a 61cm rise in the last 300 years and provide the most reliable visual proof available for scientists to study the rapidity of the rise of the sea level around Italy.  These measurements are now used to inform the country’s climate response and the strategy they are crafting to save the nation’s cultural treasures.

At first glance, there may seem to be little intersection between art and climate science or it may seem that the only relationship between the two consists of art directly created to address the issue. However, artist commentary merely scratches the surface of the connection.  A deeper dive unveils a host of different interdependencies .  Art engages in a delicate pas des deux with our world, not only reflecting on subjects, but actively influencing and strengthening fields which may seem far from the flick of an artist's brush.  Follow the Art and series to reveal more of the fascinating bonds between art and the topics that move our world today.