How was American land viewed in the 19th century? How were American artists viewing the land in which they found themselves? While the land portrayed by these artists may be the same, all artists seem to have a different way of portraying it. Asher Brown Durand was heavily influenced by many artists at his present time. However, Durand decided to take an approach both similar and distinguishably different from his predecessors in the art world. Thomas Cole was one of his direct influences. Durand chooses to use similar styles of what he saw on his visit to Europe, but also stray from the path of typical artworks by choosing to use vertical format of The Beeches painted by Durand in 1846. Observers may notice a theme in the way this American artist chooses to portray the land he is from, which is a consequence of Thomas Cole, the founder of the Hudson River School to whom Asher Durand belonged and led after the death of Cole in 1848.
Asher Brown Durand, The Beeches, 1845, oil on canvas, 60 3/8 x 48 1/8 in. (153.4 x 122.2 cm), The Met Museum of Art, New York. metmuseum.com
Asher Brown Durand paints this landscape oil on canvas, ridden with details across all ends of the canvas. Durand chose to use vertical format, which was uncommon in his day. His use of space is amplified by the use of linear perspective and the precision to portray the trees is meticulous. In this painting, we see a lone figure leading sheep down a path to water. This painting displays how American land was used in the mid 19th century and gives us the warmth of the scene even though we are only experiencing it second-hand.
Thomas Cole, View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow 1836, oil on canvas, 51 1/2 x 76 in. (130.8 x 193 cm), Met Museum of Art, New York. metmuseum.org
Utilizing the rule of thirds, Thomas Cole, who is named “Father” of the Hudson River School, created The Oxbow, a landscape painting of rugged America. Displaying rolling hills, a river, and even a small figure who also sits painting the same scene, Cole communicates America’s contribution to pilgrims traveling to its land. American is able to be cultivated, but it also presents an untamed side to it, as we observe in the left most side of the painting. We can also notice Cole’s use of color and value as he describes by his brush the unpredictableness of America. It has both storms that provide water to its land, streams that ebb and flow, wild and dense forest that has yet to be tamed, and the peaceful hills of the already-claimed territory.
Asher Brown Durand, River Scene, 1854, oil on canvas, 24 x 34 1/8 in. (61 x 86.7 cm), The Met Museum of Art, New York. metmuseum.org.
River Scene depicts a similar scene by Asher Brown Durand as The Beeches through its depiction of nature with farmland and cows on a path akin to his previous painting. With similar trees, landscape, and colors, we begin to notice a theme of Durand’s and his influence of artists with themes alike. Durand’s paintings are a bit lighter in overall composition and raw in subject matter. He chooses to portray animals and fewer human subjects, but American land above all.
Thomas Cole, View on the Catskill—Early Autumn, 1836-37, oil on canvas, 39 x 63 in. (99.1 x 160cm), Met Museum of Art, New York. metmuseum.org
Thomas Cole decided to portray American land as it begins to become cultivated through the industrial side of America. He was enamored by the raw landscape views of America and was grieved by the progress that took it from looking as he portrayed it to being full of new railroads and empty space where trees originally stood. In this horizontal landscape of beautiful America before industry overtook it, Cole portrays it with warm colors that draw the observer into the warm thoughts of how the land looked before progression took it over. He invites the observers to imagine with him the events that could go on in a place where, at one time, was full of beauty and serenity. By displaying the young girls frolicking in the meadow by the stream, he communicates the sweet and tender moments of young Americans who enjoyed this beauty. Thus, Cole seems to be communicating his sadness and opinion in the progress America was adopting.
Asher Brown Durand, In The Woods, 1855, oil on canvas, 60 3/4 x 48 in. (154.3 x 121.9 cm), The Met Museum of Art, New York. metmuseum.org.
Darker composition, forest subject, water present, Asher Durand again chooses vertical format to portray the large trees present in this oil painting. Almost as if he wanted to paint the trees in the organic direction in which they grow, Durand uses vertical composition just as with The Beeches, ten years earlier. We observe what are possibly more aspen trees, fir trees, and an altogether more wintery quality.
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