“The Catskills”
This oil on canvas painting, titled “The Catskills”, was made in 1859 by the American Hudson River School of Art painter, Asher B. Durand. It was commissioned in 1858 by the American businessman, William Thompson Walters, whose extensive art collection founded the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. The painting depicts Plattekill Clove in the Catskill Mountain region.
The Catskills are a mountain range in upstate New York where the artist, Thomas Cole, lived. Cole was the founder of the Hudson River School of Art of which Durand became an integral part.
Durand fell in love with the wild nature of in that part of New York State and would leave his home in New York City to spend his summer months trekking through the Catskills. He said of them, “now, if there be a man on earth whose location, I envy… it is Thomas Cole”.
Unlike other artists of the day, Durand often employed a ‘portrait’ orientation as seen in the painting here, that let the trees frame the scenery and which was part of his signature style. This piece was made at the apex of Durand’s career. The scenery is painted in the sublime style, which uses terror and wonder to depict the grandness of nature.
“The Catskills” is currently on display at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States.
For more on Asher B. Durand, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
