Painters of the Hudson River School
by
Rebecca Shea
In the
early 19th century, America was yearning for its own art form, a style
distinctly its own, something not European. They found the answer in the
landscape of the Hudson River Valley and Catskill Mountains. Artists ventured
into the wilderness to sketch and paint, making closely observed and intensely
expressive, pristine paintings. Their style of painting and reverence for
nature defined the Hudson River School of painters.
 |
| Albert Bierstadt painted The Rocky Mountains, above. |
Masters
of the Hudson River School include Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand, Jasper F.
Cropsey, Sanford Gibbons, Frederic Edwin Church, George Innes, Albert
Bierstadt, and Martin Heade. This collective of painters formed the first coherent
American art movement.
Paintings
produced by the 19th-century Hudson River School were dominated by intense
and often dramatic light effects that captured a sense of the divine. The artists
believed art to be an instrument of moral and spiritual transformation and that
a retreat into nature was restorative and necessary for the human soul. The
Hudson River Valley and the Catskill area is pictured as a new Garden of Eden
and it was artists, poets and writers that held the keys to it.
There
is a famous Hudson River School painting by Asher B. Durand, "Kindred
Spirits," that once hung in the New York Public Library at 42nd Street. In
2005, it was sold from the NYPL collection for more than $35 million to Crystal
Bridges, an American Art Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas that is endowed by the
Walton Family Foundation.
Durand's
"Kindred Spirit" is a dramatic canvas at 46"h x 36"w. It
depicts two men on a rocky ledge in contemplation of the scene before them. The
gorge and stream deep in the middle of the canvas is veiled in mist. The whole
scene is framed by foliage. It is an idealized, romantic view of Kaaterskill
Clove and Kaaterskill Falls. In the foreground of the painting is a broken tree
stump, one of the school's most famous pictorial symbols. Cole referred to this
as a "memento mori," a reminder that life is fragile and impermanent.
It was believed that only Nature and the divine in the human soul are eternal.
At
present, the homes and studios of a few of the Hudson River School painters
have been preserved as historic sites with excellent exhibitions and
programming throughout the summer.
Thomas
Cole’s Cedar Grove in the town of Catskill, where the artist lived and
painted from 1836 until his death in 1848, is open May to October. Tours of the
house and studio are Wednesday to Sunday.
Frederic
Edwin Church's spectacular Persian-style home and studio in the town of Hudson
is open for tours Friday through Sunday. Book tickets online for tours because
they do sell out.
The
Jasper Cropsey Homestead, also known as Ever Rest in Hastings-on-Hudson has two
venues for guided tours, the home and studio, and a new Gallery of Art. Tours
are scheduled by appointment and are available weekdays only. To ensure
availability, schedule tours at least one week in advance. The home and gallery
are closed the month of August.
Exploring
the wilds that inspired these artists is the best way to experience their history.
The Hudson River School Art Trail is a project of The Thomas Cole National
Historic Site. It is a unique trail system that follows the footsteps of Hudson
River School artists to many of the significant viewpoints they painted. You
will be amazed and relieved to find many of the views that were painted nearly
200 years ago have remained almost unchanged. This is thanks to the “forever wild
clause" established in the New York Constitution in the late 19th century.
Explore the Thomas Cole website to download maps (www.thomascole.org).
If you
want to paint like Cole, Church or Bierstadt, the Hudson River Fellowship, part
of the Grand Central Art Academy, provides the structure and discipline
necessary. The curriculum requires students to work in the field, researching
the landscape in pencil and tonal drawings, and to create plein air paintings.
Lectures and discussions cover theories of landscape painting and include
environmental science, and the methods and materials of the classical landscape
painters.
Careful
study of trees, rocks, sky, wind, and grass and shrubs could transform an
artist. It could transform anybody. This type of meditation absolutely creates
a stronger connection to nature. It was by this direct experience that the
Hudson River School of painters realized their highly influential art form—and it
continues to inspire today.
Posted by Chris Hewitt
on 3:59 PM.
Filed under
Culture Features,
Feature
.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0
