The Hudson River School Response

The Hudson River School (1825-1880) was a school for artists who painted the wilderness of America and it was actually a government sponsored school. It was the first coherent school of American art and shaped the vision of American landscape. These were the first paintings that were attributed to America. These paintings were so important because they broadcasted the wilderness that America still had instead of Europe who had built up buildings all through their wilderness. Nobody believed that these paintings were real, the wilderness was too good to be true and in fact, the way the artists painted their scenes, it made people want to go to the places in the paintings because they looked so nice. Everyone who saw these paintings wanted to move west, they were an open gate for westward expansion.

            Thomas Cole- The Ox Bow (1836)

            I think the way that Cole portrayed nature in this painting is generally nice but he added in the rain clouds on the left side of the painting which made it look a little dark and scary, like the clouds are coming in to take over the happy scene on the right side of the picture. This connects with the HRS and their ideals because like I said, the right side of the picture looks happy and carefree so it looks live-able. Cole didn’t paint animals or any sense of danger except the weather but who sees that as a major threat?

            Asher Durand- Kindred Spirits (1849)

            In this picture, Durand portrays nature as an oasis. There is not a thing in this picture that gives me the feeling that there might be danger lurking in the woods. It doesn’t help that the men are in normal clothes of that time, not hunting and trapping clothes. This scene makes you think, wow, I could be out there too. It looks so nice, let’s go! This is the epitome of the ideals of the artists of the HRS because they painted the American landscape in an appealing way that made people want to visit that place.

Jasper Francis Cropsey- Autumn- On the Hudson River (1860)

            This picture is beautiful. Cropsey definitely painted this as an oasis as well. This picture is actually better than the last picture because it looks way more peaceful. With no people already there, it looks like something you could go to and have a great time at, make a nice home for yourself. There is no hint of danger. In fact you can’t even begin to imagine there could be danger there at all.  Once again, this definitely ties in with romanticizing the American west because they painted pictures that made everyone feel this way.  It made people want to move there, which they did.

            I connect the artists and paintings of the HRS to Polemic and Abbey’s shear love for the wildlife. Abbey loved his national park so much as he said here, “Could there be a more genuine testimonial to its beauty and integrity?” (pg. 386) I think that the artists tried to make everyone have that king of love for the wilderness by painting it in such a heavenly way. I think that they accomplished their goals since so many people wanted to move to these wild places after they viewed the art of the Hudson River School artists.