The school of landscape painters flourished between 1825 and 1870, which was often called the "native," "American," or "New York" school. New York City was the center of it, many members had studios in theTenth Street Studio Building inGreenwich Village.[1] The term Hudson River School is thought to have been coined by theNew York Tribune art criticClarence Cook or by landscape painterHomer Dodge Martin.[2] The name appeared in print in 1879, it was initially used during the 1870s disparagingly, as the style had gone out of favor after theplein-airBarbizon School had come into vogue among American patrons and collectors.[1]
Hudson River School paintings reflect three themes of America in the 19th century: discovery, exploration, and settlement.[3] They also depict the American landscape as a pastoral setting, where human beings and nature coexist peacefully. Hudson River School landscapes are characterized by their realistic, detailed, and sometimes idealized portrayal of nature, often juxtaposing peaceful agriculture and the remaining wilderness which was fast disappearing from the Hudson Valley just as it was coming to be appreciated for its qualities of ruggedness and sublimity.[4] In general, Hudson River School artists believed that nature in the form of the American landscape was a reflection of God,[5] though they varied in the depth of their religious conviction. They were inspired by European masters such asClaude Lorrain,John Constable, andJ. M. W. Turner. Several painters were members of theDüsseldorf School of Painting, and they were educated by GermanPaul Weber.[6]
Thomas Cole is generally acknowledged as the founder of the School.[7] He took a steamship up the Hudson in the autumn of 1825, stopping first atWest Point then at Catskill landing. He hiked west, high into the easternCatskill Mountains of New York to paint the first landscapes of the area. The first review of his work appeared in theNew York Evening Post on November 22, 1825.[8] Cole was from England and the brilliant autumn colors in the American landscape inspired him.[7] His close friendAsher Brown Durand became a prominent figure in the school.[9] A prominent element of the Hudson River School was its themes of nationalism, nature, and property. Adherents of the movement also tended to be suspicious of the economic and technological development of the age.[10]
Most of the finest works of the second generation were painted between 1855 and 1875. Artists such as Frederic Edwin Church andAlbert Bierstadt were celebrities then. They were both influenced by theDüsseldorf school of painting, and Bierstadt had studied in that city for several years. Thousands of people would pay 25 cents per person to view paintings such asNiagara[12] andThe Icebergs.[13] The epic size of these landscapes was unexampled in earlier American painting and reminded Americans of the vast, untamed, and magnificent wilderness areas in their country. This was the period of settlement in the American West, preservation of national parks, and establishment of green city parks.
Several women were associated with the Hudson River School.Susie M. Barstow was an avid mountain climber who painted the mountain scenery of the Catskills and the White Mountains.Eliza Pratt Greatorex was an Irish-born painter who was the second woman elected to the National Academy of Design.Julie Hart Beers led sketching expeditions in the Hudson Valley region before moving to a New York City art studio with her daughters.Harriet Cany Peale studied withRembrandt Peale andMary Blood Mellen was a student and collaborator withFitz Henry Lane.[14][15]
One of the largest collections of paintings by artists of the Hudson River School is at theWadsworth Atheneum inHartford, Connecticut. Some of the most notable works in the Atheneum's collection are 13 landscapes by Thomas Cole and 11 by Hartford native Frederic Edwin Church. They were personal friends of the museum's founder,Daniel Wadsworth.
TheNewington-Cropsey Foundation, in their Gallery of Art Building, maintains a research library of Hudson River School art and painters, open to the public by reservation.[18]
^"Asher B. Durand".Smithsonian American Art Museum: Renwick Gallery. Smithsonian Museum. Archived fromthe original on June 7, 2011. RetrievedJune 26, 2016.
^White, Mark Andrew (2002).Progress on the Land: Industry and the American Landscape Tradition. Oklahoma City, OK: Melton Art Reference Library. pp. 6–13.ISBN0-9640163-1-1.
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