Asher Brown Durand - The Beeches [1845]

Asher Brown Durand - The Beeches [1845], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

This work, featuring meticulously rendered beech and basswood trees, was painted for the New York collector Abraham M. Cozzens, then a member of the executive committee of the American Art-Union. The painting illustrates a new trend in the work of the Hudson River School, with its diminished emphasis on sublime drama and increased interest in naturalism and in the creation of a tranquil mood. Durand (American, 1796 - 1886) was influenced by the work of the English landscape painter John Constable, whose vertical formats and truth to nature he absorbed while visiting England in 1840. The Beeches resembles Constable's The Cornfield (National Gallery, London). This work is also the first one Durand based on a plein-air oil sketch, a technique the artist increasingly relied upon to reproduce accurately conditions of light and shade.

[Oil on canvas, 153.4 x 122.2 cm]

Asher Brown Durand - Ariadne [c1831-35]

Asher Brown Durand - Ariadne [c1831-35], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Asher Brown Durand (Maplewood, New Jersey, August 21, 1796 - September, 17, 1886) was an American painter of the Hudson River School. Durand is particularly remembered for his detailed portrayals of trees, rocks, and foliage. He was an advocate for drawing directly from nature with as much realism as possible. Durand wrote, "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."

[Oil on canvas, 43.5 x 49.2 cm]