‘The idea of the Sublime’

“American Beauty 22,’’ by Lily Prince, in the group show “In Nature’s Grasp,’’ at the Brattleboro (Vt.) Museum and Art Center, March 16-June 16.

The museum says:

“In his 1757 work A Philosophical Enquiry, the statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke considered the concept of the Sublime, noting that certain experiences supply a kind of thrill, mixing fear and delight. Burke declared the Sublime to be the strongest human passion, powerful enough to transform the self. He noted in particular the experiences and sensations elicited by nature. Burke’s thinking challenged the rhetoric that centered human experience in religion. The idea of the Sublime became closely associated with the Romantic art movement of the 19th Century.

“Nature has long existed as the subject of artists’ interpretation. The 11 artists featured in ‘In Nature’s Grasp’’ approach nature both literally and abstractly, inviting viewers to step into their unique interpretations. Some of the artists work with landscape imagery, while others conjure ideas of nature through textures, shapes, and color, or through an aspect of their process.’’