Positioning Alexander von Humboldt Through Naturgemälde (Nature Painting) Within the Two Cultures Structure of Knowledge

Abstract

This article examines Alexander von Humboldt, who is considered one of the founding figures of modern geography. Humboldt, who synthesized the intellectual legacy of the Enlightenment— rooted in mechanics—and Romanticism—rooted in aesthetics— developed a unique scientific approach. Accordingly, “Humboldtian science”—which brings together experimental science with art and aesthetics—argues that nature is a unified whole shaped by internal forces, and that this can only be understood through a perspective that combines the tools of both science and aesthetics. Humboldt presents this perspective through Naturgemälde, which he produced as a result of his South American journey between 1799 and 1804. This new scientific style, which is a ‘microcosm’ in which all the main elements of nature are depicted together, expresses scientific data through aesthetic drawings, pointing to the fact that nature has a living structure with internal forces. The scientific vision he clarified in Naturgemälde led to him being defined as a single cultures scholar. However, with the growing success of the experimental and inductive methods of the natural sciences beginning in the 17th century, a two cultures scientific practice emerged. In this context, the article evaluates Alexander von Humboldt’s understanding of science through Naturgemälde and discusses the current place of this understanding in light of the two cultures conceptualisation. Within this framework, it is argued that Humboldt’s understanding of science has been negatively affected by the two cultures transformation that has taken place in modern knowledge structures and could not maintain a lasting position within geography. However, considering the efforts to build dialogue between physical and human geography that have become evident in the last quarter of a century, it is noted that Humboldt’s approach, which brings together science and art, may once again come to forefront.

Citation: Yazan, Suat (2026). “Positioning Alexander von Humboldt Through Naturgemälde (Nature Painting) Within the Two Cultures Structure of Knowledge”, Erdem, June, Issue:90, pp. 249-282.