Hudson River School
(above: John Frederick Kensett (American, 1816-1872). Hudson River Scene, 1857. Oil on canvas, 32 x 48 inches. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of H. D. Babcock, in memory of his father, S. D. Babcock, 1907. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)
Introduction
This section of the Traditional Fine Arts Organization (TFAO) catalogue Topics in American Art is devoted to the topic "Hudson River School." Articles and essays specific to this topic published in TFAO's Resource Library are listed at the beginning of the section. Clicking on titles takes readers directly to these articles and essays. The date at the end of each title is the Resource Library publication date.
After articles and essays from Resource Library are links to valuable online resources found outside our website. Links may be to museums' articles about exhibits, plus much more topical information based on our online searches. Following online resources may be information about offline resources including museums, DVDs, and paper-printed books, journals and articles.
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(above: Asher Brown Durand, circa 1869, photo by Abraham Bogardus. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)
Resource Library articles and essays honoring the American experience through its art:
Nelson Augustus Moore; essay by Todd and Marenda Stitzer (10/3/14)
Nature and the American Vision: Masterpieces of the Hudson River School (3/18/11)
Remember the Ladies: Women Artists of the Hudson River School (5/17/10)
River Views of the Hudson River School (10/19/09)
Different Views in Hudson River School Painting; text by Judith Hansen O'Toole (4/14/08)
The Hudson River School at the New-York Historical Society: Nature and the American Vision (12/1/06)
American Scenery: Different Views in Hudson River School Painting (7/28/05)
The Hudson River School at the New-York Historical Society: Nature and the American Vision (7/14/05)
Hudson River School: Masterworks from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art (3/13/04)
A Wilder Image Bright: Hudson River School Paintings from the Manoogian Collection (1/29/04)
Hudson River School: Masterworks from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art (8/26/03)
Hudson River School Visions: The Landscapes of Sanford R. Gifford (8/8/03)
Art and Nature: The Hudson River School (3/7/00)
All that is Glorious: Paintings from the Hudson River School (2/24/00)
Art and Nature: The Hudson River School (1/20/00)
This Tranquil Land: Hudson River Paintings from the Hersen Collection (1/14/00)
Art and Nature: The Hudson River School (10/14/99)
Art & Nature: The Hudson River School Tours Nationally (8/4/99)
All that Is Glorious Around Us (Hudson River School Painters) (6/22/99)
(above: Frederic Edwin Church, date unknown. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)
Information from other websites
American Paradise: The World of the Hudson River School, an exhibition catalog from Metropolitan Museum of Art, fully available online as PDF, 367 pages, introduction by John K. Howat. Accessed 5/18
American Scenery: Different Views in Hudson River School Painting, was held February 26 - May 13, 2012 at the Blanton Museum of Art. The article from the Blanton includes .pdf gallery guides for the exhibition. Accessed May, 2014.
American Scenery: Different Views in Hudson River School Painting, an exhibit held 2/19/11 - 6/5/11 at the Reading Public Museum. Includes two online videos.
"Connoisseurship and the Hudson River School," by Jennifer Kriger; from Hawthorne Fine Art. Accessed 5/18
The Grand Women Artists of the Hudson River School, by Judith H. Dobrzynski, Smithsonian.com, July 27, 2010; from Judith H. Dobrzynski. Accessed August, 2015.
Home on the Hudson: Women and Men Painting Landscapes 1825-1875 from NewYorkHistoryBlog.org. Accessed 5/18
The Hudson Flows West is a 2013 exhibit at the Frye Art Museum which says: "Drawn from holdings of the Frye Art Museum and local private collections, The Hudson Flows West explores how the complicated notion of manifest destiny informed emblematic depictions of the 'New World,' from the pristine beauty of the Hudson River Valley to the earliest images of the western frontier. While these depictions of spectacular and awe-inspiring natural phenomena were often used as rationale for expansion and exploitation of the wealth of resources they detailed, their works reflect the artists' deep reverence for the land, one that coincided with stirrings of environmental consciousness and the national call for preservation." Accessed 3/17
Hudson River School from Wikipedia. Accessed August, 2015.
The Hudson River School: Landscape Paintings from the Albany Institute is an ongoing exhibition at the Albany Institute -- including artwork labels and 3D tour -- which says: "For the first time, nearly all ninety paintings from this important collection is on view. These landscapes, painted by artists like Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, Jasper Cropsey, Asher Durand, and numerous others, capture America's scenic grandeur in all its magnificence from rugged coastal scenery to imposing mountains and rivers." Accessed 10/22
"The Hudson River School," excerpt of essay by Arthur Danto, "Encounters & Reflections: Art in the Historical Present" from artchive.com
"The Hudson River School" by Kevin J. Avery, Department of American Paintings and Sculpture, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accessed August, 2015.
Hudson River School Art Trail from hudsonriverschool.org. Accessed August, 2015.
A Hudson River School Legacy: The Newman Bequest and Other Gifts is a 2017 exhibit at the New-York Historical Society which says: "Inspired by the natural beauty of the Hudson River Valley region and the emotional intensity of the scenes captured by painters of the first self-consciously "American" school of art, the Newmans acquired works by artists including Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church, and Martin Johnson Heade." Accessed 4/17
Hudson River School Painters from askArt. Accessed August, 2015.
Hudson River School Trilogy, an exhibit held August 17 - October 21, 2007 at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. Includes news release. From Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. Accessed August, 2015.
Hudson River School Visions: The Landscapes of Sanford R. Gifford from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Accessed August, 2015.
List of Hudson River School artists from Wikipedia. Accessed August, 2015.
The Making of the Hudson River School is an extensive 14-part online exhibit hosted by the Albany (NY) Institute of History and Art. Accessed 10/19
"Nature and the American Vision: The Hudson River School" is an educators' essay from LACMA which says: "Nature and the American Vision: The Hudson River School is designed as a grand tour of the nineteenth-century American landscape, and the paintings on view reveal much about issues of national identity, westward expansion, mistreatment of the native population, and the beginnings of environmentalism in the United States." Accewssed 5/18
Nature and the American Vision: The Hudson River School is a 2016 exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum which says: " Nature and the American Vision: The Hudson River School transcends centuries to show visitors the powerful, breathtaking vistas that defined our heritage and shaped our nation. Accessed 8/18
The
Poetry of Nature: Hudson River School Landscapes
from the New-York Historical Society is an exhibition hosted by the New Britain Museum of American Art in
New Britain, Connecticut from January 28, 2022 through May 22, 2022. The
New Britain Museum of American Art described the exhibition as follows:
"A stunning array of over 40 paintings created between 1818 and 1886,
The Poetry of Nature illustrates America's scenic splendor as seen
through the eyes of over 25 leading Hudson River School artists, including
Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand, John F. Kensett, Albert Bierstadt, as well
as lesser-known but important artists Josephine Walters, Christopher Pearse
Cranch, and Louisa Davis Minot, among others. Its display at the NBMAA will
include the addition of works by Robert S. Duncanson, the first Black artist
of the Hudson River School to gain international acclaim. Drawn from the
collection of the New-York Historical Society, the exhibition explores the
exchange of influence among this group of artists, their favored sketching
grounds, and the legacy of Hudson River School painting today... The growing
number of crowded industrial cities in the East gave rise to an appreciation
for pictures of the landscape untouched by man. This closely-knit group
of artists, together with like-minded poets and writers, forged a self-consciously
"American" landscape vision and literary voice. Both were grounded
in the exploration of the natural world as a rouse for spiritual renewal
and as an expression of cultural and national identity. The Hudson River
and the varied scenery along its banks provided the subjects for many of
their landscape paintings.".Accessed 9/23
The Poetry of Nature: Hudson River School Landscapes from the New-York Historical Society is a 2017 exhibit at the Allentown Art Museum which says: "The Poetry of Nature, comprised of some forty paintings by twenty-five artists ranging in date from 1818 to 1886, features a variety of important paintings conceived in the style of the Hudson River School. Bound by common purpose, these New York City-based painters often carved literal paths to remote and perilous sketching locations. Explore the confluence and tributaries of their artistic expression in this naturally wondrous exhibit." Accessed 11/17
Thomas Cole's Studio: Memory and Inspiration is a 2023 exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum which says: "The exhibition reassembles the paintings that were in Cole's studio when he died in 1848 and explores the significance of Cole's late work for art in America. Thomas Cole was the founder of the Hudson River School. This group of painters established an iconic style of American landscape painting. Accessed 10/23
Thomas Cole's Voyage of Life was a 2016 exhibit from Chrysler Museum of Art which says "Spanning four monumental canvases, The Voyage of Life takes viewers on a journey through Childhood, Youth, Manhood, and Old Age, presenting each stage as progress along a grand but treacherous river.... These masterpieces from the collection of the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, N.Y.... embark on this historic tour together with many of the artist's seldom-exhibited original drawings and preliminary studies. The Chrysler's own Thomas Cole painting, The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds, the largest single canvas he ever created, joins this extraordinary tribute to one of the founding fathers of American art." See Thomas Cole from Resource Library essay and artfixdaily.com 10/20/14 article "Chrysler Museum Becomes "Thomas Cole Central" with Monumental Works from "Voyage of Life" and Chrysler Collection" Accessed 10/16
Transitional Nature: Hudson River School Paintings from the David and Laura Grey Collection is a 2020 exhibit at the Frost (Patricia and Phillip) Art Museum, Florida International University https://frost.fiu.edu/ which says: "Transitional Nature draws from the collection of David and Laura Grey and includes masterpieces by Albert Bierstadt, Robert S. Duncanson, Asher B. Durand, and George Inness." Also see extensive Resource Library materials Accessed 10/20
Women Artists of the Hudson River School" by Jennifer C. Krieger from Spring 2010 issue of Antiques & Fine Art Magazine. Accessed 5/18
In October 2012 The Metropolitan Museum of Art launched MetPublications, an online resource that offers in-depth access to the Museum's print and online publications, covering art, art history, archaeology, conservation, and collecting. Titles relating to American representational art available for free viewing via.pdf download or online reading as of 2013 include: American Paradise: The World of the Hudson River School; Avery, Kevin J., Oswaldo Rodriguez Roque, John K. Howat, Doreen Bolger Burke, and Catherine Hoover Voorsanger (1987); Hudson River School Visions: The Landscapes of Sanford R. Gifford; Avery, Kevin J., and Franklin Kelly, with Claire A. Conway, and essays by Heidi Applegate and Eleanor James Harvey (2003). Accessed August, 2015.
(above: Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life Childhood, 1842. Picture from National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.) Source: Wikimedia Commons - public domain*)
Online videos
April, 2023 screenshot via Google video search:
Hudson
River School - Sunday Arts [05:09], December 10, 2008, from WNET. Accessed
August, 2015.
The San Diego Museum of Art produced a video titled Asher Brown Durand,
1796-1886, Landscape-Composition: In the Catskills, available online
through ArtBabble. According to ArtBabble, "Asher B. Durand is best
known today for his enduring images of the American landscape, especially
of the Hudson River Valley, the Catskills, and the Adirondack Mountains
in New York. A founding member of the National Academy of Design, he studied
engraving before devoting himself to landscape painting and was one of the
primary painters of the Hudson River School. Durand's canvases reflect the
great passion and unrelenting respect he possessed for the natural environment.
In the detailed charcoal study for Landscape-Composition: In the Catskills,
which he probably made on site, Durand included the small figural forms
in the foreground; in this, the final painting of the subject, these tiny
figures, juxtaposed with the immensity of the mountains and the breadth
of the land before them, emphasize the awe-inspiring presence of the land
itself." Accessed June, 2015. The San Diego Museum of Art also produced
a video titled Thomas Moran, Below the Towers of Tower Falls, available
online through ArtBabble. According to ArtBabble, "ArtStops are 15
minute, staff-led tours of one to three works on view. Museum curators and
educators present these brief yet always enlightening and informative talks
every Thursday and third Tuesday at noon. This week features: Thomas Moran,
Below the Towers of Tower Falls, Yellowstone Park, 1909, with Lucy
Eron, Art Educator" Accessed June, 2015.
The WGBH/Boston
Forum Network is an audio and video streaming web site dedicated to
curating and serving live and on-demand lectures, including a number of
videos on Art and Architecture. Partners include a number of museums, colleges,
universities and other cultural organizations. See listings of related videos
in this catalogue indexed by partner name. Boston
Athenaeum partnered with the WGBH Forum Network for a series of lectures
on American art by David Dearinger, who is Susan Morse Hilles Curator of
Paintings and Sculpture at the Boston Athenaeum. An art historian and curator,
he received his Ph.D. from the Graduate Center of the City University of
New York, with a specialty in nineteenth-century American art. Titles include:
Hudson River School of American Landscape Painting, (1 hour, 11 minutes)
a general introduction to the famous Hudson River School of American landscape
painting. [March 29, 2005]. Accessed August, 2015.
DVD/VHS videos
saw the growth of America's first native school
of landscape painters, artists inspired by the compelling beauty of the
Hudson River Valley, who portrayed this and other romantic wilderness areas
with an almost mystical reverence. This 57 minute video explores the life
and work of the major artists of what came to be known as the Hudson River
School -- Thomas Cole, Asher Durand, Frederic Church, Albert Bierstadt,
John Kensett, Jasper Cropsey, Worthington Whittredge, Sanford Gifford,
and George Inness. Although its members traveled widely, the growth and
development of the school were centered around New York City, and its success
reflected the ambitions of the youthful American nation. It presents more
than 200 paintings, prints and photographs of the period and juxtaposes
them with dramatic location photography of the Hudson River area. The Hudson
Company in association with The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Hudson River
and its Painters, The is available through the Sullivan
Video Library at The Speed Art Museum which holds a sizable collection
of art-related videos available to educators at no charge.
TFAO does not maintain a lending library of videos or sell videos. Click here for information on how to borrow or purchase copies of VHS videos and DVDs listed in TFAO's Videos -DVD/VHS, an authoritative guide to videos in VHS and DVD format
Above artist photos courtesy of Wikipedia.
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