The Hudson River School
The Hudson River School [1] was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by romanticism. [1] American landscapepaintersromanticism Hudson River School paintings reflect three themes of America in the 19th century: discovery, exploration, and settlement. The paintings also depict the American landscape as a pastoral setting, where human beings and nature coexist peacefully. pastoralhuman beingsnature
The Hudson River School Hudson River School landscapes are characterized by their realistic, detailed, and sometimes idealized portrayal of nature. Often juxtaposing peaceful agriculture and the remaining wilderness, fast disappearing from the Hudson Valley just as it was coming to be appreciated for its qualities of ruggedness and sublimity.sublimity Hudson River School artists believed that nature in the form of the American landscape was an ineffable manifestation of God, though the artists varied in the depth of their religious conviction.God
Thomas Cole: “The Oxbow”
Albert Bierstadt: “Looking Down Yosemite Valley”
Thomas Moran: “Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone”
Asher Durand: “Kindred Spirits”
John F. Kensett: “Mount Washington”
Thomas Cole: “Notch of the White Mountains”