Art began to take off in America as portraits of grand landscapes rather then colossal monuments. The artists painted what they could relate to and the United States was not about culture. Its beauty was entirely focused on nature, handed to the new land by the grace of God. Before painting made its way into American society in the 1800s, the only form of art was the furniture of the Puritans. This newfound interest in the arts was confirmed by the opening of a landscape school, the Hudson River School, in the 1830s. The school was founded by Thomas Cole. He is known for his 1826 painting of a waterfall in America, which contained a bit of fantasy in the form of a Native American, who could not have been in that area at the time. They had been cleared out long before and it had become a tourist area. Another beautiful landscape painting by Cole is Oxbow, 1836. This portrait of an oxbow lake shows the two sides of nature in the calm air in the right side of the portrait and the storm approaching from the left.
Nature has always been a major part of the identity of Americans. The moment that cities became cities, the wealthy would leave their homes for a vacation in the wilderness. They would take the Hudson River to such places of beauty as Catskill Mountains and Katterskill Falls. In 1838 John James Audubon wrote and illustrated a book entitled Birds of America. This book serves as a window into the past since most of the birds pictured in the book are now extinct. In 1849 Asher B. Durand captured Cole and author Bryant surrounded by inspiring cliffs in a piece called Kindred Spirits.
Manifest Destiny was coined by Sullivan in 1806 to give Americans a sense of a national purpose. That purpose was expansion. Every movement needs an icon to serve as an example to others. That icon was Daniel Boone, depicted in Bingham’s Manifest Destiny art. Several other artists became known for their Manifest inspired works, such as Albert Bierstadt and Leutze. Currier and Ives made publications that supported these ideals and promoted family values.
A new movement in art came about through the works of a group called Luminists. Artists such as Lane, Heade, and Kensett painted calm eastern seas as well as other peaceful nature scenes to represent consciousness and eternity. America gave birth to its first celebrity painter, Fredrick Church, the one and only known follower of Cole. Thomas Moran was responsible for the first painting ever to be bought by the U.S. Government. Yellowstone Falls, 1872 presents the landscape as a hero and convinced the Government to make it a national park to be preserved and cherished. Buffalo Bills Wild West Show also had a noticeable affect on the art world. After seeing the show, Charles Vogel painted cowboys. Fredrick Remington painted frontier fights including the famous last stand with General George Armstrong Custer.
The comforting scenes of God’s fingerprint, the American landscape, eventually evolved into dramatic scenes of human emotion and turmoil, but the paintings still represent Americas pride and joy, our beautiful country.

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