Hudson River and Other Americans III, English III

This Anglo-American collection lets us see connections and contrasts. Like the difference between the English and American traditions. It's a bit of a cliche to point out the importance of landscape in American art because it's so obvious. Understandable as well - the majesty of the New World was breathtaking. Especially compared to the smaller and tamer vistas of England. The English are more varied. In general more delicate - more picturesque than grand - but emotionally moving. One advantage we do have in the modern era is the ability to see all this cultural heritage at once. There's an irony in crowds of people mourning the loss of culture while looking at quality pictures at no charge. It's never been easier to hop on for the ride.

Montague Dawson, The Crescent Moon, 20th century


The Americans are divided into two groups - the Hudson River School and other Americans. The second sounds a bit dismissive, but the Hudson River School becomes so dominant that it's not unreasonable. The group pushes out the genre scenes of earlier Americana and influences unaffiliated artists and public taste. At least as far as we know. We're learning that the history is so detached from what happened that the most we can do is speculate.

Hudson River School

This group lets us see connections between central members of this group despite their individual differences. Rough foliage, bright hazy light, and grand views was how they showed the beauty and logos in creation. Herzog is a difficult artist to classify and a good example of why we shouldn't put too much weight on general categories. He started his career in his native Germany then moved to America where he is often included with the Hudson River School Movement. He also trained at the Dusseldorf School - an almost completely ignored institute that looks like it may have been the most important in European painting at the time. Gifford, Whittredge, Bierstadt, and Hart also had Dusseldorf School backgrounds - it seems to be an important link between European Romanticism and the American Sublime. So does Herzog belong here? He fits aesthetically and points to the depth of history hidden beneath the inverted Modernist narrative. So we included him, though cases could be made to include him with Europeans or Other Americans as well. Ultimately...who cares?

John Frederick Kensett, Sunset on the Sea, 1872

Unusual study of the setting sun over the sea by a Hudson River School painter.

The simplicity is misleading. The light is subtle as well as bright and the sky is excellent.

Alfred Thompson Bricher, A Quiet Day near Manchester, 1873

Peaceful waterfront by a Hudson River School painter.

There’s subtle excellence in the tones in the sea & wet beach. The solid rock & tranquil water add contrast.

Hermann Herzog, Florida Sunset, 19th century

German painter with a feel for grand American landscapes.

Here he crushes the pink and gold tones & distinct setting of a Florida sunset. The light is different there.

Thomas Moran, Forest Scene, 1870

Hudson River School painter looks into a dense spring forest near day’s end.

The way the shades of light blend with the foliage is almost magical. Like wandering into a fantasy novel.

Frederic Edwin Church, Twilight Mount Desert Island, Maine, 1865

Hudson River School master of dramatic sunsets on his game.

Blazing red & gold pyrotechnics make it easy to miss the detail in the dark foreground & the clouds.

Frederic Edwin Church, Cotopaxi, 1855

Hudson Rover school painter & Ecuadorian volcano.

Detail up front & blurry background makes the landscape vast. But the snow top pulls the mountain forward & makes it seem epic.

Hermann Herzog, The Cascades of Reichenbach, 19th century

There’s always something captivating about falling water. This isn’t a big fall but the setting makes it seem wild.

The misty morning light adds an air of mystery.

Albert Bierstadt, Valley in Kings Canyon, 19th century

Bright morning picture with the Hudson River School.

Bierstadt used hazy light to add epic grandeur to his paintings. He dials it up here for the wonder of the new day.

Asher Brown Durand, The Catskills, 1859

Early Hudson River School painter with a traditional technique. Frame the view with dark vegetation & open into light for depth.

What was new was how epic he made the contrast feel.

Other Americans

The Hudson River School had such an impact on American art that it's gravitational field can be felt outside it's borders. They even make the official timelines as the transition between colonial and modern painting. According to the narrative, this is when America became artistically self-conscious - an independent, original, and theoretically self-aware movement to replace the watered-down European stylings of earlier painters. This is all nonsense unless you accept the beast system concept of Art! instead of expressing logos through techne as your definition of what art is. Just look at the Americana posts for a reality-facing description.

The hard part in rethinking complete inversion is the scale and depth of the deception. The most basic common knowledge level stuff - like a rough outline of American art going from landscapes to modernism - is wrong. A timeline of colonial naivete to landscape to urban modernism assumed the fake narratives of Progress! - both in human nature and art. If this is fake, so is the history. Here's a thought experiment to make it less jarring. Consider what modern universities teach or modern media shows compared to material and logical reality. Why would their "art" be any different?

Here's some reality from the modern era.

Frederick Schafer, Morning on Mount Shasta, 19th century

Good morning SG.

A good mountain painting is bracing like a fresh breeze.

Contrast between the sharp foreground & the huge form in misty distance makes it feel epic.

John Frost, Spring, 1926

Social distancing picture by an American painter. It’s twilight, with blues creating an intense mood.

It isn’t spectacular, but it has a contemplative calm that is pleasant to look at despite the cool tones.

William Trost Richards, The Rainbow, Coming Rain, Atlantic City, 1890

American painter known for realism & careful detail.

Light & atmosphere are excellent. Especially the rippled reflections in the water & the rain clouds.

Frederick Ferdinand Schafer, Old Roscoe on the Truckee River, 1885

Late evening sunset from a painter of western landscapes.

Portrait orientation makes the rock look more imposing. Schafer is up & down but he’s on here.

Frederic Remington, The Last Stand, 1896

Great painter of the American West shows that you may not win, but you can decide how you go out.

Muted color makes oil paint look like a print & sharpens the focus.

Never make it easy.

William Trost Richards, Off Conanicut, Newport, 1904

Great sunset painting from an American realist. Translucent waves and cloudy sky show his landscape skill.

No room for him in official 20th century histories of art.

Sydney Laurence, Mount McKinley, Altitude 20,390 Feet, 1912

Stunning vision of N. America’s highest mountain by an Alaskan painter.

Hudson River technique - sharp foreground, misty distance, wide view - on a titanic scale.

Martin Johnson Heade, Two Hummingbirds with an Orchid, 1875

American artist painted exotic flowers in fantastic settings.

New bloom, breaking sunlight, busy birds, lush landscape - a celebration of life, mysteries and all.

William Trost Richards, Seascape with Distant Lighthouse, Atlantic City, 1873

American realist was good at surf & shoreline scenes. This one is mild.

The sky is familiar if you’ve seen bad weather blow off at the beach.

English

Mastery of light, water, and air in beautiful settings. This group brings a range of  moods, contexts, and times day, in cities, in the countries, and at sea. Watercolor makes an appearance - the English were excellent at that difficult medium. All and all a relentless pursuit of beauty. Benjamin Williams Leader and Montague Dawson are real discoveries. A gifted landscape artist with a genius for skies and a nautical painter of surprising range are typical of the talent and vision that we are recovering from the memory hole.

Look at this group as a group and compare them to the Americans. You will start to pick up on the subtlties that define traditions but are hard to describe in words.

Helen Allingham, Near Hambledon, 1880s

Spring is a time of rebirth & an opportunity for more joyous life-affirming themes. Large or small scale.

Like an English watercolorist painting her own home bursting with life.

John Constable, Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop’s Grounds, 1825

Sunday morning picture by a British master of light & air.

The trees & their shade create a shady pastoral frame for the bright glory of church & sky.

Alfred de Breanski, Across the Loch, Stronachlachar, 19th/ 20th century

Rugged, airy scene by an English painter who worked in Scotland.

The subtle reflections in the still water are stunning. Billowing clouds add contrast.

John Atkinson Grimshaw, A Wet Moon, Putney Road, 1886

The master of moonlight at his most atmospheric.

The wet detail & warm gaslight gradually melting into the damp English night air is mesmerizing. You can almost feel it.

Henry Dawson, Shipping on a Calm Sea at Dusk, 1861

English painter with very textured sunset sky & sea.

The dark silhouette of the ship creates depth without distracting from the water & atmosphere - the true subjects.

Montague Dawson, Sea Beauty: The Tea Clipper ‘Wild Ranger’, 20th century

Anyone like nautical art?

This guy painted ships like illustrations, but with “artistic” skies and clouds. There’s something refreshing about them.

Helen Allingham, Lessons, 19th century

English watercolorist with a reminder that educating and enculturating children was always a parent’s duty.

Buying your way out of it used to be something only the elites did.

Arthur Reginald Smith, Cornish Cliffs, 19th century

Watercolor doesn’t have oil’s vivid color but is lighter & blends easily.

Like this English scene of water, mist & cloud on rocks. A modest study, but powerful in its way.

John Atkinson Grimshaw, Reekie, Glasgow, 19th century

Grimshaw shows his subtle mastery of light & atmosphere. No dazzling moon, just the dull glow of coal soot & fog in the sky.

And the warmth & colors of the lanterns.

Edward William Cooke, Venice, Sunset behind S. Maria della Salute, 1855

Sunday magnificence with an English painter and a Venetian landmark.

Golden tones on the still ocean steal the show, but the sky is subtle genius.

Edmund Blair Leighton, My Lady Passeth By, 1914

History teaches us that simping has been around for a long time. It’s the prevalence that’s become a problem.

Alfred de Bréanski, Near Inversnaid, Loch Lomonde, 19th century

Delicate light effects and color tones in the distinctive landscape of the Scottish Highlands.

He captures the faint quality of late lighting.

John Atkinson Grimshaw, Moonlight, 1871

The master of moonlight on his game. The hazy road, misty atmosphere, cloudy sky and wet road were all strengths.

His moonlit atmospheres are unique in the history of painting.

Benjamin Williams Leader, Streatley Church from the Thames, 1874

Church/State separation is right up there with “free speech” as inversion levers.

Sunday reminder: organic cultures share common beliefs.

Somehow administrative separation of “secular” & “sacred” became forced social pretense that Truth isn’t true.

Montague Dawson, The Crescent Moon, 20th century

British nautical painter with an evocative scene. Almost haunting, with an air of fantasy.

The contrasting lights on the water are very good. He’s better than I thought.

Helen Allingham, Buckinghamshire House at Penstreet, 19th century

English watercolorist with a peaceful home in bloom.

Organic culture grows in stable places. Globalism needs constant motion. They’re diametric opposites.

John Everett Millais, Dew-Drenched Furze, 1889

English painter catches the morning light through the dew on gorse bushes & in a misty wood.

Pre-Raphaelites like Millais were moved by English history, legends & folklore.

David James, The Morning Tide, 1898

Ocean scene refreshes with bright cool colors. Great contrast between the tranquil cloudy sky & rolling waves and foam.

A high horizon gives up the epic scope & makes a view seem closer.