Nature and the American Vision: The Hudson River School

LACMA presents Nature and the American Vision: The Hudson River School, the West Coast presentation of The New-York Historical Society's premier collection of 19th-century American landscape paintings. The Hudson River School–a group of New York-based artists, poets, and writers—forged a vision of the American cultural and national identity through their visual exploration of nature. Drawn entirely from The New-York Historical Society, this exhibition features 45 paintings and represents 23 renowned artists who led the American landscape movement, including Thomas Cole, Asher Brown Durand, Frederic Edwin Church, and Albert Bierstadt, among others. Nature and the American Vision also examines the movement beyond the Hudson River, with works by artists who reflected both realistic and romantic attitudes towards nature in scenes of New England, the American West, and South America. For the first time on the West Coast, all five of Thomas Cole's series The Course of the Empire (c.1834-36) are on view. Nature and the America Vision: The Hudson River School is curated by Dr. Linda S. Ferber, Senior Art Historian and Museum Director Emerita at The New-York Historical Society. 

Image credits: 

Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire: The Savage State, c. 1834, The New-York Historical Society, gift of The New-York Gallery of the Fine Arts

Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire: The Arcadian or Pastoral State, c.1834, New-York Historical Society, gift of The New-York Gallery of the Fine Arts

Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire: The Consummation of Empire, 1835-1836, The New-York Historical Society, gift of The New-York Gallery of the Fine Arts

Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire: Destruction, 1836, The New-York Historical Society, gift of The New-York Gallery of the Fine Arts