The Hudson River School Landscapes at LACMA

I enjoyed seeing 45 landscape paintings from the Hudson River School at LACMA last Thursday. The exhibit is entitled Nature and the American Vision:  The Hudson River School."  The paintings are from the New York Historical Society.  They include works by Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand, Albert Bierstadt and others.  These landscape artist painted life as they saw it and imagined it during the mid 19th century.  Many were of scenes in the Hudson River Valley of New York but others painted from their trips to South America, Europe, and the American West.

Here are a photos of some of my favorites:

"Catskill Creek, New York," 1845 by Thomas Cole (1801-1848).  Born in England, lived and worked in New York.
In 1836, Cole left New York City to settle at Catskill a village on the Hudson River.  He has been deemed the "father" of the Hudson River School of painters.

"The Solitary Oak," 1844 by Asher B. Durand (1796-1886)

"White Mountain Scenery," 1859 by John Federick Kensette (1816-1872)

"Niagara Falls:  The American Falls," 1821 by Alvan Fisher (1792-1863)

"Summer Twilight, a Recollection of a Scene in New England," 1834 by Thomas Cole

"Autumn Twilight, View of Corway Peak (Mount Chocorua), New Hampshire," 1834 by Thomas Cole

"Cayambe,"1858 by Frederic Edwin Church (1926-1900).
This was painted soon after Church returned from his second trip to South America.  This scene in Equator shows the tropical splendor with the mountain in the distance. 

"Indian Encampment, Shosone Village," 1860 by Albert Bierstadt (1830-1892)

"Italian Scene, Composition," 1833 by Thomas Cole
Cole visited Italy for the first time in 1830 and sketched ideas for this painting.

"The Harvest Moon," 1860 by Louis Remy Mignot (1831-1870)

These are the first of 5 paintings by Thomas Cole entitled "Course of Empire."  They present a theory of history that all societies were subject to the same inevitable rhythms of growth and decay.  The series was began in 1833 when commissioned by Luman Reed, a New York merchant.  It is presented as it was designed for a wall with a fire place for the central painting and two on either side.
The first painting is entitled "The Savage State" and shows the natural beauty of the earth before man's changes.  The second one below the first is entitled "The Arcadian or Pastoral State."  It shows the early influence of man with stone structures and farming.  Notice the mountain with a large rock on top in the background of all five paintings.

"The Consummation of Empire" shows the scene of a fully developed culture, like that of Rome 2000 years ago.

The top painting is entitled "Destruction" and the bottom "Desolation" with the return of a civilization to nature once more.  Together, these are Thomas Cole's most famous works.