SE Academic Review 2023

60 ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

7 .

Artists have been depicting nature in their works since the very earliest times. Many of these depictions do have a symbolic or secondary meaning behind them. In particular, the contemporary movement of conceptual art produces works of art which focus on ideas and how people interpret them. However, arguably other works of art do not have secondary meanings and symbolism behind them but are rather more focused on depicting nature as it is without any hidden messages. In particular, artists in the past wanted to show their skill more than the majority of artists in the 20th and 21st centuries when the idea becomes paramount. There is always a symbolic or secondary meaning embedded in artists’ depictions of nature. How far do you agree? By India Holroyd