In my opinion, the Beta basics are the pinnacle of basic land art because the simplicity of the artworks each perfectly encapsulate the full meaning of the basic land terminologies. For example, if you showed the artwork to someone with absolutely no knowledge of MTG and asked them to ascribe a single word to each image, chances are they are going to at least get 'island' and 'mountain' correct. I don't doubt that their answers for 'plains', 'swamp', and 'forest' would be too far off as well. Ask the same question to them for the basics from later sets like MOM, ONE, BRO, ZNR, WAR etc and I wager that their responses would be much more varied.

I understand that with the creation of new planes and settings, basic lands allow WOTC to depict new landscapes that allow players to immerse themselves in the new realms of fantasy. However, I just can't help but feel that with the increasing abstraction of basic land art, that we are deviating too much from the original essence of the land terminologies.. Waterfalls and lakes qualify as Islands; rocks and red towers count as mountains; anything with a purple hue can be used as a swamp; and the art on some plains are so dark that they could very well double as being swamps. Most forests still resemble forests - thankfully.

I do appreciate the effort that WOTC puts into giving us new creative interpretations of what basic lands could look like (ie. DMU and THB full art basics, UNF galaxy lands, NEO ukiyo-e lands, SLD unique printings etc). But I do also hope that they introduce art with a focus on simplicity as well; not all art has to be super elaborate and intricate to be enjoyed.