1. Art of the mid-19 th century

2. Hudson River School 1820s- 1870s

3. ► Captured the power of nature – painted grand, scenic vistas ► Painted the nation’s most spectacular and undeveloped areas [the new Garden of Eden]. ► Experimented with the affects of light on water and sky ►Nature was the best source of wisdom & fulfillment. ►Humans are an insignificant [even non-existent] part of the picture. ► Characteristics of the Hudson River School

4. Created visual embodiments of the ideals of the Transcendentalists. * Painting is the vehicle through which the universal mind could reach the mind of mankind (Over-soul). * Art is the agent of moral & spiritual transformation. Experimented with affects of light on water and sky. “A new art for a new land.”

5. ► Transcendentalist thinking ► Westward expansion ► American nationalism --> What is America? * creation of a national mythology ► Racism and Native Americans ► The price paid for progress and the advances of civilization Issues/Themes Addressed by the Antebellum Artists

6. In Nature’s Wonderland Thomas Doughty, 1835

7. Niagara – Frederic Church, 1857

8. View of the Catskills, Early Autumn Thomas Cole, 1837

9. View from Mt. Holyoke: The Oxbow Thomas Cole, 1836

10. The Course of Empire: The Savage State Thomas Cole, 1834

11. Kindred Spirits – Asher Durand, 1849

12. Watercolors by John Audubon Stanley HawkBarred Owl

13. Patriotic Art

14. The Landing of the Pilgrims Unknown Artist, 1830s

15. Washington Crossing the Delaware Emmanuel Gottlieb Leutze, 1851

16. George Washington Horatio Greenough, 1841

17. Our Banner in the Sky - Frederic Church, 1861

18. Frontier Art

19. Young Omahaw, War Eagle, Little Missouri, and Pawnees - Charles Bird King, 1821

20. Buffalo Bull’s Back Fat, Head Chief, Blood Tribe - George Caitlin, 1832

21. “White Cloud” – Chief of the Iowas – by George Catlin

22. Last of the Race – Tompkins Matteson, 1847