The Oxbow, by Thomas Cole, a noted Hudson River School artistAmerican Art

Early American ArtMost of early American art (from the late 18th century through the early 19th century) consists of history painting and portraits.

Paul Revereby John Singleton Copley (1768)

Thomas Jeffersonby Charles Wilson Peale (1791)

Battle of Bunker Hill by John Trumbull (1786)

Stressed creativity and emotion

Inspired by natureThe American wilderness

Henry Wadsworth LongfellowPaul Reveres Ride

Wanted American to "ignore the courtly Muses of Europe

Define a distinct vision for American art.

Did not want Americans to rely on the Europeans

Part of the Transcendentalist movementRalph Waldo Emerson

Founded by Asher Durand

Influenced by Romanticism and Emersons call for a distinct vision for American art.

Painted lush landscapesMany traveled west for inspiration

Hudson River School

Asher Durand1791 1886

Founder of the Hudson River School

"Let [the artist] scrupulously accept whatever [nature] presents him until he shall, in a degree, have become intimate with her infinity...never let him profane her sacredness by a willful departure from truth." Self Portrait

Kindred Spirits

Thomas Cole1801 1848Self Portrait

Frederic Church1826 1900

NIAGARA FALLS

NaturalBridge

John James AudobonDrew birds, mammals, plants, and other subjects of natureDrew them as he floated down the Mississippi River

His Birds of America is the most important work on birds ever published

Today the Audubon Society continues his spirit of protecting birds and their habitats

Nathaniel Hawthorne- The Scarlet LetterInspired by the Witchcraft trials

Washington Irving- Rip Van Winkle & The Legend of Sleepy HollowFirst American writer to gain fame in Europe

Herman Melville- Moby DickDesire to kill a white whale

Edgar Allen Poe- Murders in Rue MorgueWrote the 1st detective stories

Walt Whitman- Leaves of GrassUnrhymed poems about ordinary people