A Comparison of the Hudson River School & Impressionism

 The Intentions & Styles of Impressionism VS. The Hudson River School

Impressionism:

Within the early 1860's, a group of Paris-based artists including Claude Monet, Pierre-August Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Frédérick Bazille pioneered a new art movement by illustrating life in a raw manner. This movement was called Impressionism, and its goal was to steer away from classical subject matter in order to portray the world from the eyes of the artist. This style of art consists of loose brush strokes and a vast array of colors in order to depict landscapes, objects, and people in a moment of time. Although many critics believed that the combination of these techniques created an amateur expression, one of the ideas of Impressionist artists was that the world itself is imperfect, so it is reasonable for art to reflect that. These artists painted what was in front of them to capture a certain moment, and unlike previous art movements, Impressionists sought to mirror emotion and thoughts rather than reality. 

The Hudson River School:

Influenced by European Romanticism, a group of landscape painters working in the Hudson River Valley of New York were united by their belief that their art could lead to spiritual renewal, in addition to forming an American national culture. Rivers, mountains, forests, and monuments were illustrated in realistic and elaborate manners, which contributed to the idea that America was worthy of celebration. This was the first American style of art after the American revolution, and played a key role in creating a sense of national pride. This loose art movement also helped the start up of the Conservation Movement in the mid-19th century. Due to industrialization, many forests and natural landscapes were being used for lumber and other materials, and The Hudson River School's depictions of America's beauty inspired conservationists to speak out about the destruction of natural forests. This led to the U.S. government creating law to protect specific natural areas, and the National Park service. Unlike impressionist artists, these landscape painters often painted from memory. 

Arts of Impressionism

Garden at Sainte-Adresse, by Claude Monet, 1867, France

Monet's use of color in his artwork, Garden at Sainte-Adresse, provides a beautiful contrast between the dark greens and blues of the sea, and light greens and colorful flowers of the depicted resort scene. Contrast is also seen in the light and dark blue colors of the sea, by which short brush strokes create the illusion of ocean waves. Small depictions of sailboats and steamboats afloat the sea in the upper half of the painting create negative space, while positive space is portrayed by a variety of colorful, flowery bushes within the seaside garden on the bottom half of the artwork. Impasto is used in some of the flowers to allow them to stand out amongst other areas of the painting, which also gives the art texture. 

This painting provides me with a sense of joy and holiday, which is exactly what the artist's intentions were with this painting. Personally, I love the bright colors of the flowers, and the style of Impressionism gives me a calm and happy feeling. The woman's dress gives a leisurely feeling to the art, which makes it easy to enjoy the relaxing feeling of a Spring day. 

Parisian Street Scene, by Jean Béraud, 1885, Paris 

Amongst a rather dull background, an array of colors brings the viewers attention to the focal point of the painting. Béraud uses color to his advantage by using light blues and white in the negative space to depict a gloomy day, as well as bright colors such as yellow, blue, pink, and red in the positive space to make the poster-filled kiosk stand out. In addition to color, to portray a rainy day the artist uses value to create the illusion of a wet sidewalk. Below the man and woman looking at the kiosk, darker values of gold and brown are used to depict reflections of the people on the sidewalk, while small brushstrokes of pink also create a reflection of the kiosk and a dull blue shows the reflection of the sky on the street. Long, curvy lines are used to illustrate bare tree branches that hover above the streets. Line work can also be seen in the negative space of the painting to show light poles lining the street in the distance.

I love the wintery feel to Parisian Street Scene, especially as the holidays are approaching. Something about impressionism is comforting to me, and this painting is no exception. My favorite part about this artwork is the technique Béraud used to create objects in the distance by applying small brush strokes of color. I also really enjoy the depiction of everyday life and Jean Bèraud mostly painted a variety of scenes in Paris, so choosing an artwork from this artist was a must for me. 

Arts of the Hudson River School

In the Woods, by Asher Brown Durand, 1855, America

How the artist uses light in the painting In the Woods creates a mystical feeling within the portrayed canopy forest. Durand uses lighter colors of greens and yellow to illustrate where the light is peaking through the forest, and white to show where light hits the trees. Symmetry of the light source within the painting and where the light shines on the forest floor aligns perfectly, and brings the viewers attention to the natural stream of water. Various brush strokes and line work provide the trees and their branches with texture. Choppy brush strokes give the branches and leaves a pointy and sharp look, while the short and dark lines on the white tree bark show that they would be rough to the touch.

Although I'm not the biggest fan of The Hudson River School paintings, I do like the mystical feeling provided by this artwork and the detail is astounding. What I don't like about In the Woods is that it human life, and I think it would have more of a sentimental feeling if the artist placed a person in the artwork enjoying the scenery. To me, it kind of feels empty because of this. Depiction of natural life is beautiful, but lacks emotion. 

The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak, by Albert Bierstadt, 1863, America

With the Rocky Mountains standing tall in the top, the lake in the middle, and the landscape on the bottom of the painting, it's easy to see that the artist used space to the fullest in order to make this artwork come to life. Lighter values used to portray the mountains show that they are in the distance. Additionally, Bierstadt uses light in the middle of the painting to expose a waterfall of melting snow leading to the lake, which also gives the idea that there may be parting clouds in the sky, creating a mix of light and dark areas of the scene. Tone is used in the middle area of the painting as well, in order to create a contrast between the light area of the waterfall and the darker hills surrounding it. In the trees and tipis tone is also present and used to illustrate shadowy areas of the landscape. 

For me, this painting is more appealing than many others of The Hudson River School. The Rocky Mountains are special to me since I live in that region and I also like how the artist included Native American life in the landscape. I believe Manifest Destiny was a big influence in this artwork, since the artist was part of an expedition to the Rocky Mountains. I really enjoy how Albert Bierstadt portrayed just how amazing the mountains are, and how they tower over the landscape. 

Conclusion

Both Impressionism and The Hudson River School have amazing features in their styles of art, however, impressionism is more appealing to me due to its emotional depictions and use of various colors. Many differences set these styles apart, and Impressionism was mostly European based and while many artists of The Hudson River School were originally from Europe, their art was based in America. Nonetheless, it's intriguing to study the two. 

Avery, Kevin J. “The Hudson River School.” Metmuseum.org, Oct. 2004, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hurs/hd_hurs.htm. 

“Impressionism Movement Overview.” The Art Story, https://www.theartstory.org/movement/impressionism/. 

Tate. “Impressionism.” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/i/impressionism