hudson school of painting essay notes

Hudson River School of
Painting Notes for an Essay

-Hudson River School was Americas first school of painting and it lasted until the civil war.

-Started in 1835 Often the landscapes were romantic panoramic views with a mood of serenity

-Often painted New York landscapes of unsettled areas.

-The Hudson River Valley lakes, gorges and forests were popular.

-Hudson River School of Art often had themes of discovery and exploration

-The paintings show people and nature getting along perfectly there is almost never any big buildings or towns

-Landscapes are realistic and very detailed

-For example in this painting it looks like you can see each leaf on every tree, even the ones way off in the distance

-The paintings look very romantic and godlike

-The most famous artist was Thomas Cole he lived from 1801-1848

-He was born in England and moved to US when he was young

-Once he painted landscapes he got famous

-He is known for landscapes but he also painted other themes about change over time.

-His 5 part The Course of Empire shows the same landscapes over

generations

-His landscapes made people want to go out into the wilderness

-He showed romantic images of New York and the west

-The light effects were exaggerated

-The drama of the light was known as Luminism

-The light seems to all come from no particular source and shine very bright

-It has a feeling of optimism for the endless potential of the US.

-Painters created visual ideals about the things Thoreau and Emerson wrote about nature.

-Thomas Cole led other painters like Thomas Doughty, Thomas Chambers and Jasper Francis Cropsey to paint the same way.

-Thomas Cole often sketched in the wild then went home to paint.

-Hudson River School was Americas first school of painting and it lasted until the civil war.

-The Hudson River Valley lakes, gorges and forests were popular.

-The arts were a great force in changing Americans opinions about the natural world

-Many people wanted to visit rural area in the west after they looked at the art.

-Thomas Cole was popular in 1825 when 3 of his paintings were seen in NY

-He was known for very detailed work.

-Notice how small the man is compared to the huge landscape.

-This is often seen in Hudson School paintings. They often did not have any people at all in them.

-His other works were not popular and Thomas Cole died poor.

-Cole's paintings were dramatic and moody

-Notice the pitch black area on the bottom

-This area of black makes the bold bright white look even brighter

-This style of painting was popular until the Civil War