Does anybody know the name of the perspective most people paint in?

Question

Most people paint at a perspective that is like a couple of degrees below the horizontal.
Is there a word for this?

Answer 1

There are, arguably, three distinct viewpoints in linear perspective, all having to do with the viewing angle in relation to the ground plane:

^{J.T. Thibault, "Application of Linear Perspective in the Graphic Arts" (c.1860), via handprint.com}

All three are symbolized by the figure on the left, taking on three different positions in every picture. These viewpoints are very arbitrary, as they only serve a symbolic function, being relative to our daily experience (below, level with, and above our 'common sense' perspective of standing on the ground plane). All three take place on a relatively small arch in relation to the ground plane.
(Notice that these viewpoints have nothing to do with the position of the (true) horizon in the picture, as this can shift up and down on the artist's whim, without him/her having to adjust his/her viewpoint.)

Respectively, these viewpoints may be referred to as

• A low viewpoint: (on-the-)ground perspective or, using a term more commonly used in the world of photography and cinematography, the low-angle shot. (More specific and extreme examples are ant's view perspective, worm's eye view, or, at least in Dutch, frog's perspective);
• A 'normal' viewpoint. Set at the 'default' viewing height, i.e. the height of the eyes of an average person standing on the (virtual) ground plane. The pictures you provide in your question seem to be of this category. As I mentioned in the comments, it is the most commonly used viewpoint, because it is the perspective "we see in" - it is the most natural and acceptable of perspectives. And;
• A high viewpoint, also known as bird's eye view, or high-angle shot (or, in French, a 'vue plongeante', or 'plunging view').

You can find the relative height of the viewpoint by looking at the objects that cross the horizon line, because

objects at the same height as the viewpoint are intersected by the true horizon line.^*

Looking at the pictures you posted, this overlapping object is a palm tree or a sign post.
For example, the third picture on the second row seems to have a higher viewpoint than the second picture on the first row. It is still quite hard to judge the height of the observer (of us), though, because the palm tree could hang lower in the first picture I mentioned.
For a real assessment of the observer's (or artist's or photographer's) viewing height, there has to be something identifiable in the picture of which we can estimate the height, like a person, or even a brick wall or staircase, since these have commonly used dimensions.

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Also note that aerial perspective is an ambiguous term, as it is, as far as I know, more commonly used as a synonym of atmospheric perspective (which is the clearer term), which is the effect the atmosphere has on objects - more obvious at larger distances - where they gradually take on the colour (often blue) of the sky, an effect caused by scattering of the light rays. This effect is often enhanced by fog, but they're not really the same. As far as I know, it was introduced in painting by Leonardo da Vinci.

^{Caspar David Friedrich, "Nordische Landschaft (Frühling)", ca. 1825}

^{* https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/perspect1.html#horizon}

Answer 2

You are assuming that most paintings use this certain perspective, which is not the case. A subset of paintings do and those are landscape paintings which all of your examples consist of. This style typically uses two point perspective with the horizon parallel to the top and bottom of the frame. This could be considered landscape perspective.

The common sense explanation is that this is how we normally see the world, and many artists are simply seeking to capture what they see, especially naive and/or traditional landscape painters as in the pictures above. Plus by selecting a specific genre of painting they by definition have the same perspective.

However there are plenty of examples of "landscape" paintings that do not limit themselves to that POV, including landscapes painted from the birds-eye POV as in the last image. I would say in this day and age, with abstract, pop-art, cubism, and all the other genres there are probably as many if not more paintings that do not use traditional landscape perspective than those that do.