The Hudson
River School (1825-1880) was the first coherent school of American art. The
group of many painters from this school depicted nature of the Wild West as
romantic and beautiful. These artists felt that the beauty of Nature could
inspire good moral qualities and that it was an agent of spiritual and moral
transformations. This school began in the 19th century by Thomas
Cole and Asher B. Durand. It started small but became the most popular luminous
and late romantic school of landscape paintings in the 19th century.
This school helped depict the good/peaceful side of nature and helped the
Europeans diminish their fear towards it.
Artist:
Thomas Cole (1801-1848)
Thomas Cole, the founder of the
Hudson River School, was born in England and then moved to America in 1818. He
is best known for his allegorical paintings, but also did many paintings of the
White Mountains like this one. Although painting romantic, amalgamative, grand,
and enormous allegorical works such as the Voyage
of Life and Course of Empire is
what Cole preferred, he did many landscapes upon requests of patrons. His goal
was to showcase the romantic side of American nature. He wanted to depict
American nature as the “visible hand of God” but also to prove a point that
nature is good and useable; it is not scary and needed to be avoided.
More specifically in this work of
art, The Hunter’s Return that Thomas
painted in 1845, he is portraying nature as useful and homey. This piece of
work I think reflects upon the ideas that America came from nature and
showcases the Wild West perfectly. The men in this painting are on their way
back from hunting, foraging, and scavenging.
They are living in the land, not just on the land and are obviously not
fearful of it. It depicts the history of America and how we grew to what we are
now; nature really is the visible hand of God. 
2nd
Painting: Rainy Season in the Tropics
Artist:
Frederic Edwin Church (1826 – 1900)
Frederic Edwin Church, perhaps the
best known representative of the Hudson River School, was born in 1826 in
Hartford. He was mastered/taught by the
famous painter Thomas Cole at a young age and soon was said to be the student
as having “the finest eye for drawing in the world.” He soon went global after
opening a studio for himself with his beautiful landscape paintings. Church was
a painter that focused very much on showing natural science in his work but he
never failed to give each of his paintings a spiritual twist; probably
something he learned from Thomas Cole.
Specifically in this painting Rainy Season in the Tropics which he
painted in 1866, like many of Church’s paintings is portraying the beauty and
power of water. When I look at this painting, I see pure power and strength. It
makes me realize how beautiful our country is and how resilient nature is. It
always rebuilds itself when given time and nurturing. It reflects romanticism
in a spiritual aspect. Waterfalls have always been a spiritual symbol and I
think this painting makes the people who view it, think a little deeper and
past this world.
3rd
Painting: Grand Canyon of the Yellow Stone
Artist:
Thomas Moran (1837-1926)
Thomas Moran was born in 1837 in
Bolton, Lancashire. At age 16 he got his first job as a wood engraver and with
this position is when we began to paint and draw seriously. He became an
extremely good painter and was asked to go on many excursions to paint landscapes.
In 1860 he was asked to come to West and paint Lake Superior. He enjoyed the
American West so much that whenever he got the opportunity to come back he did.
It was on one very special occasions that he got the opportunity to come paint
the geyser’s, canyons, and hot springs of Yellow Stone park. He was a big part
in making Yellow Stone National Park what it is today; he showed color and such
power in his paintings that it drew many tourists’ specifically European
tourists to visit the park.
Specifically in this painting of
Yellow Stone Grand Canyon of the Yellow
Stone that Moran painted in 1893, Moran is showing the vividly awesome
riches – scenic and material- of the West. This painting provides a spiritual
and inspirational background/ reason for venturing to the West. Moran’s ability
to showcase the beauty/ necessity of the mountain men’s myth’s in this painting
considered him to be a national icon of the time.
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