the oxbow, by thomas cole, a noted hudson river school artist american art
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The Oxbow, by Thomas Cole, a noted Hudson River School artist
American Art
Early American Art
Most of early American art (from the late 18th century through the early 19th century) consists of history painting and portraits.
Paul Revereby John Singleton Copley
(1768)
Thomas Jeffersonby Charles Wilson Peale (1791)
Battle of Bunker Hill by John Trumbull (1786)
Stressed creativity and emotion
Inspired by natureThe American wilderness
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow“Paul Revere’s Ride”
Wanted American to "ignore the courtly Muses of Europe“
Define a distinct vision for American art.
Did not want Americans to rely on the Europeans
Part of the Transcendentalist movement
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Founded by Asher Durand
Influenced by Romanticism and Emerson’s call for a distinct vision for American art.
Painted lush landscapesMany traveled west
for inspiration
Hudson River School
Asher Durand1791 – 1886
Founder of the Hudson River School
"Let [the artist] scrupulously accept whatever [nature] presents him until he shall, in a degree, have become intimate with her infinity...never let him profane her sacredness by a willful departure from truth."
Self Portrait
“Kindred Spirits”
Thomas Cole
1801 – 1848Self Portrait
Frederic Church
1826 – 1900
NIAGARA FALLS
NaturalBridge
John James AudobonDrew birds, mammals,
plants, and other subjects of natureDrew them as he floated
down the Mississippi River
His Birds of America is the most important work on birds ever published
Today the Audubon Society continues his spirit of protecting birds and their habitats
Nathaniel Hawthorne- The Scarlet Letter Inspired by the Witchcraft
trials
Washington Irving- “Rip Van Winkle” & “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” First American writer to
gain fame in Europe
Herman Melville- Moby Dick Desire to kill a white whale
Edgar Allen Poe- “Murders in Rue Morgue” Wrote the 1st detective stories
Walt Whitman- Leaves of Grass Unrhymed poems about
ordinary people