Following official protection of natural environments for public benefit in Fontainebleau Forest in France (1861) and in Yosemite (1864) and Yellowstone (1872) in the USA, the New Forest Act of 1877 marked the first major instance in Britain. Art and artists were involved in this achievement to a greater extent than in all preceding cases. For the first time, and within an ecocritical framework, this study examines the role played by art during the previous anti-enclosure campaign – highlighting both the hitherto-unacknowledged extent of German influence in terms of the original artistic initiative and of German artists' participation in the cause, as well as the significance of connections between landscape art of the day and priorities of the early Open Spaces movement.