Olivia
Asher B. Durand abandoned his vocation as an engraver in the 1830s to embrace the promise of the Hudson River School’s landscapes after absorbing the beauty of Thomas Cole’s famed work (National Gallery of Art). The New York dry-goods distributor Jonathan Sturges, a well-known patron of city’s arts, commissioned Durand to produce a tribute to Cole after his sudden death in February of 1848 (National Gallery of Art). After Romantic poet William Cullen Bryant’s impassioned eulogy at Cole’s funeral, Sturges felt impelled to commemorate the friendship between the lyricist and the painter (National Gallery of Art).
Durand completed Kindred Spirits in 1849 as an idealized landscape that amalgamates highlights of the Americas, including the Catskill’s deep cloves and Kaaterskill Falls (The Metropolitan Museum of Art). Though a medley of scenery, the painting features a vigilant heed to detail that contributes to the realism of the piece (National Gallery of Art). The product is the scrupulous realization of natural beauty, set within the bounds of a gracefully arched tree and the rising walls of the crevice (Miller). The mysterious forest in the forefront of the image becomes a frame for the luminous depths of the valley. Toward the foreground, two men, Thomas Cole and William Cullen Bryant, stand perched on a protruding boulder, engulfed in the wonder of their inspiration: nature.
Unlike Thomas Cole, who exaggerated the instability and peril of the natural world, Durand emphasizes the safety, accessibility, and innocence of nature (Miller). Devoid of industrialization and the plagues of the pre-Civil War society, Kindred Sprits’s placid vision of nature evidences the promise of western lands, the credo behind the belief in Manifest Destiny (Miller). Both Thomas Cole’s outstretched arm and the gurgling stream lead the eye backwards into the sunlit recesses of the ravine, offering a path into the wilderness (Miller). Durand suggests that both artwork and poetry can open connoisseurs’ eyes to the West, steering them to their destiny (Miller).
Durand’s work explores the powers of the spiritual realm as well (Miller). The rural setting expresses the artists’ faith in the uncorrupted wilderness, a devotion to the natural world that evolved into a passion. This tranquil landscape mutates into an image of the uncorrupted sublime (Miller). The glory of the sunlit backdrop implies salvation (Miller). Durand petitions the viewer to break with the shadowy foreground and delve into the depths of the countryside, a divine realm. The saying goes, on to greener pastures, and it appears Thomas Cole and William Cullen Bryant have launched this journey.
Works Cited
Miller, Angela, et al. American Encounters: Art, History, and Cultural Identity. London: Prentice Hall, 2008.
National Gallery of Art. “Asher B. Durand’s Kindred Spirits.” 2005. National Gallery of Art. 3 December 2012.
< http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/durandinfo.shtm>.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Kindred Spirits.” October 2009. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 3 December 2012.
< http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/L.2008.21>.
Images Cited
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Kindred Spirits.” October 2009. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 3 December 2012.
< http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/L.2008.21>.
Asher B. Durand abandoned his vocation as an engraver in the 1830s to embrace the promise of the Hudson River School’s landscapes after absorbing the beauty of Thomas Cole’s famed work (National Gallery of Art). The New York dry-goods distributor Jonathan Sturges, a well-known patron of city’s arts, commissioned Durand to produce a tribute to Cole after his sudden death in February of 1848 (National Gallery of Art). After Romantic poet William Cullen Bryant’s impassioned eulogy at Cole’s funeral, Sturges felt impelled to commemorate the friendship between the lyricist and the painter (National Gallery of Art).
Durand completed Kindred Spirits in 1849 as an idealized landscape that amalgamates highlights of the Americas, including the Catskill’s deep cloves and Kaaterskill Falls (The Metropolitan Museum of Art). Though a medley of scenery, the painting features a vigilant heed to detail that contributes to the realism of the piece (National Gallery of Art). The product is the scrupulous realization of natural beauty, set within the bounds of a gracefully arched tree and the rising walls of the crevice (Miller). The mysterious forest in the forefront of the image becomes a frame for the luminous depths of the valley. Toward the foreground, two men, Thomas Cole and William Cullen Bryant, stand perched on a protruding boulder, engulfed in the wonder of their inspiration: nature.
Unlike Thomas Cole, who exaggerated the instability and peril of the natural world, Durand emphasizes the safety, accessibility, and innocence of nature (Miller). Devoid of industrialization and the plagues of the pre-Civil War society, Kindred Sprits’s placid vision of nature evidences the promise of western lands, the credo behind the belief in Manifest Destiny (Miller). Both Thomas Cole’s outstretched arm and the gurgling stream lead the eye backwards into the sunlit recesses of the ravine, offering a path into the wilderness (Miller). Durand suggests that both artwork and poetry can open connoisseurs’ eyes to the West, steering them to their destiny (Miller).
Durand’s work explores the powers of the spiritual realm as well (Miller). The rural setting expresses the artists’ faith in the uncorrupted wilderness, a devotion to the natural world that evolved into a passion. This tranquil landscape mutates into an image of the uncorrupted sublime (Miller). The glory of the sunlit backdrop implies salvation (Miller). Durand petitions the viewer to break with the shadowy foreground and delve into the depths of the countryside, a divine realm. The saying goes, on to greener pastures, and it appears Thomas Cole and William Cullen Bryant have launched this journey.
Works Cited
Miller, Angela, et al. American Encounters: Art, History, and Cultural Identity. London: Prentice Hall, 2008.
National Gallery of Art. “Asher B. Durand’s Kindred Spirits.” 2005. National Gallery of Art. 3 December 2012.
< http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/durandinfo.shtm>.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Kindred Spirits.” October 2009. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 3 December 2012.
< http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/L.2008.21>.
Images Cited
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Kindred Spirits.” October 2009. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 3 December 2012.
< http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/L.2008.21>.