Hudson River Blog

Created by a sophomore seminar at Hamilton College, this blog considers the past, present, and future of the Hudson River, once described by Robert Boyle as "the most beautiful, messed up, productive, ignored, and surprising piece of water on the face of the earth."

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

The Painters of the Hudson and the Style Inspiring Changes

When viewing the Artists of the Hudson era I found it interesting to notice how the style and content of the artist's paintings changed with the area around them. The style of Thomas Cole, considered to be the father of the Hudson school of painting, is very much nature first. His paintings, such as View on the Catskill Early Autumn show a Hudson valley with rich foliage relatively unhindered by man.

The second generation of Hudson painters, such as Sanford Robinson Gifford, embraced the increased growth on the Hudson and their works include more paintings with a meld of nature with human life like in Sunset Over the Palisades on the Hudson.

In many ways the growth of the Hudson is mirrored by the artist and the changing styles in inspired.

posted by Ashbel T. Wall @ 3:45 PM 

1 Comments:

Blogger Jenny said...

I think this parallel extends to the decline in the popularity of landscape painting and the Hudson River School in the 1870's as the economic importance of the Hudson increased. People’s interests turned elsewhere, to the art of Europe and to the progress of the United States. Today, people are once again seeking out the beauty of the Hudson, both in person and in paint. Asher B. Durand’s Kindred Spirits (1849) recently sold for $35 million (http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/news/artnetnews2/artnetnews5-19-05.asp), showing the renewed popularity of the group of artists of which he was an important member.

10:01 PM  

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