THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE

Artistic Expressions in Antebellum

America

OVERVIEW

American culture came into its own

An artistic movement in America lasting

from c. 1830-1880

Marked by an emerging fascination with

the American wilderness

American artists exert their independence

from Europe and traditional artistic

expressions to forge new styles and

techniques

THE WORLD OF LETTERS:

TRANSCENDENTALISM

Ultimate truth is found by going beyond/above

normal human experience through use of

intuitive thought

Oneness with natural world leads one to spiritual

or ideal world

Spontaneous feelings and intuition, not

intellectual or rational mind, should be followed

Self-reliance & individualism overrule authority,

custom and tradition

New England-centered movement; predominantly

Massachusetts

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

One of the most outspoken and influential

transcendentalist writers

Emphasized the need for American literature

and education to be independent from

European influence

An strong abolitionist, much of his work had

anti-slavery undertones

Felt the role of government should be limited

with more emphasis placed on the individual

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), a

contemporary of Emerson with much

influence of his own

Politically outspoken; an ardent

abolitionist

"Civil Disobedience" is best known

work; insists individuals must act

based on morality, not legality

Gave many public lectures

condemning slavery in an effort to

convince both the public and

politicians of the immorality of the

institution

ANTI-TRANSCENDENTALISTS

Dark Romantics

Melville, Hawthorne, Poe

Explored…

Guilt associated with Puritan ancestry

Conflicts between good and evil in humans

Psychological effects of sin, guilt, madness and

derangement

Believed in symbolism in nature, but did not

see nature as necessarily good

THE WORLD OF PAINTING: THE HUDSON RIVER

SCHOOL

The first school of American art

Sought a liberated and self-determining artistic style separate from European traditionalism

Influenced by the Transcendentalist literature movement

Focused on nature; known primarily for epic landscape paintings which depict the vast American wilderness

Sought to stir emotions by reproducing the power

& beauty of nature

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HUDSON RIVER

SCHOOL

Paint grand, scenic vistas.

Humans are an insignificant [even non-existent] part of the picture.

Experiment with affects of light on waterand sky.

Symbol of the school a broken tree stump

ISSUES/THEMES

Transcendentalist thinking.

Westward expansion.

American nationalism --> What is America?

Creation of a national mythology

Racism and Native Americans.

Concern for political extremism.

The price paid for progress and the

advances of civilization.

THOMAS COLE

Painter and writer

Landscape painter focusing largely on the contrast of nature and civilization

Expounds in his writings the major differences between the European and American wildernesses, largely the lack of open spaces mainly differentiate the two

Concerned with the rise of development

THOMAS COLE: THE OXBOW

THE CLOVE

-

KAATERSKI

LL FALLS

ASHER B. DURAND

Contemporary of Cole's

Landscape painter in the same vein as Cole

Concerned with development and the risk it played on the virtually untouched West

Durand's Kindred Spirits became the epic piece of the Hudson River School movement

KINDRED SPIRITS