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| Art, Artists and Nature: The Hudson River School | |
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ARTISTS | |
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In the 19th century, the arts were a great force in changing Americans’ opinions about the natural world. In the Hudson River Valley, writers first expressed this change of opinion. Previously, nature had been considered the home of the devil. Several 19th century Hudson Valley writers showed nature as the home of beauty, power, and god. They did not represent nature as chaos but as a place of tranquility, grandeur, wonder and even rustic humor. A number of artists working in the Hudson River Valley pursued the changing interest in the natural environment by creating landscape paintings. Rather than nature serving as a backdrop for history paintings or portraits, their scenes illustrated the changing power and beauty of the American wilderness. These artists, later called the Hudson River School by a hostile critic, were very popular in the mid-19th century and like writers, helped change Americans’ views toward nature. | |
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Frederic E. Church (1826-1900) |
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A Connecticut native, Church began studying painting at 16 and when he moved to the Catskills, studied with Thomas Cole for 2 years. Within a year he exhibited at the National Gallery of Design. He traveled extensively and was a master of panoramic landscapes such as Niagara and Heart of the Andes. With his fame and fortune, he built a “Persian” villa in Hudson, New York, called Olana, which commands an impressive view of the Hudson River and the Catskills- the perfect landscape. | |
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(1801-1848) |
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The work and thought of Cole sparked the growth of the 19th century school of American landscape painting - now referred to as the Hudson River School. Cole began his career by exploring nature and making detailed drawings that became the foundations of his painting style. He was “discovered” in 1825, when an artist, Asher B. Durand, and a patron saw three of his Hudson Valley paintings in New York City. His meticulous landscapes were admired, but his allegorical painting, his personal favorites, were not. Cole, unfortunately, died a poor man. | |
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Jasper F. Cropsey (1823-1900) |
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Cropsey began his artistic career as an architect, but eventually devoted his time exclusively to painting landscapes. He sketched during the summer and painted in his studio during the winters. His early works are influenced by Durand and Cole. The later works focus on idealized autumn scenes with vivid colors. At one time, he had to produce leaf samples to convince a British audience that his vivid leaf colors were not fanciful but very realistic. | |
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Asher B. Durand (1796-1886) |
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Durand started out as an engraver, but became more interested in oil painting than engraving He and Cole were close friends and when Cole dies, Durand became the leader of the Hudson River School. He encouraged a more realistic representation of nature based on observation rather than Cole’s idealized formulas. Durand published his approach, “Letter on Landscape Painting” which influenced younger Hudson River School artists. | |
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Alvan Fisher (1793-1837) |
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Fisher was born in Massachusetts and studied painting with a Boston artist, in the traditional manner of copying paintings. He had a successful and varied career, which included painting landscapes, portraits, genre scenes, marine, animal, and Western subjects. | |
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James MacDonald Hart (1828-1891) |
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Hart was leading member of the second generation of Hudson River School artists. He began his career working for a sign and banner painter, but, in three years, exhibited his landscapes at the Albany Gallery of Fine Arts. He had a studio in downtown Albany and taught numerous students, including Homer Dodge Martin. He is best known for his finely detailed and gently colored pastoral compositions. | |
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William M. Hart (1823-1894) |
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Like his brother, William Hart belonged to the second generation of the Hudson River School. He began as a coach and ornamental painter and after trying portraiture, began to focus on landscape painting. He painted his early works in a detailed and meticulous manner (influenced by Asher B. Durand) while later painted more broadly and loosely. | |
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David Johnson (1827-1908) |
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Johnson primarily taught himself to paint, but was elected to the National Academy of Design. His early “luminist” style paintings with their detail, bright palette, and smooth texture were very popular. Critics and the public did not like his later works which were darker, less detailed and with heavily applied paint. | |
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John F. Kensett (1816-1872) |
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Kensett began his career as an engraver but became a prolific landscape painter, sketching in the Catskills, Berkshires, White and Green Mountains during the summer and painting in his New York studio during the winter. Despite his success with painting, he continued to support himself with engraving. | |
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Homer Dodge Martin (1836-1897) |
| Martin was encouraged to become an artist and his work links the Hudson River School painters to the American followers of the French Barbizon art and later Impressionism. His early works emulated Thomas Cole’s and other Hudson River School artist’s styles. Influenced by two European trips, he began to paint more spontaneously using a palette knife, more subtle colors, and a looser touch, like the French Barbizon artists. | |
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Art, Artists and Nature: The Hudson River School |
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