A Favorite Painting 2

Asher Brown Durand, "Kindred Spirits" 1849

I often show a slide of this painting in my course on American Cultural History. It's a great illustration of how central nature was to defining the American character in the years before the Civil War, and in particular, how creative folks embraced that element as a theme in the work they did (whether painting, prose, or poetry). The two figures depicted are the painter Thomas Cole (holding the paint brush) and the poet William Cullen Bryant, communing with nature. I like how the image draws one's attention to the peaks receding back into the center of the picture, which is suggestive of the role environmental factors will continue to play on our nation's development (this is, among other things, a product of the age of Manifest Destiny, and I expect that was at least in the back of Durand's mind). Both Cole and Durand were members of what came to be known as "The Hudson River School," and you can see other examples of their work by clicking on the link.