The Leatherstocking
Tales:
The Pioneers (1823), The Last of the Mohicans
his novels admired the
people who lived closer to wilderness--he regretted what was
lost with
the coming
of civilization but saw civilization as the greater good
instead of copying
European
novels, write about how life in the United States is
different
thinking about what
makes
us different (and hopefully better) as Americans
Artists played a particularly
important role
One example is Thomas Cole, one of the founders of an approach
to art
that came to be known as the Hudson River School
Cole came to the US in 1818 at
the age of 17
In the 1820s his wilderness paintings were a big success
Thomas Cole, Mountain Sunrise, 1826
Thomas
Cole, Falls
of
Kaaterskil, 1826
Cole had mixed feelings about the dangers of nature and the
glories of
Europe, but he wrote a very influential "Essay on
American Scenery."
Very
different
from earlier views. He wrote: "Nature has spread for us
a rich and delightful banquet. Shall we turn from it? We are
still in
Eden; the wall that shuts us out of the garden is our own
ignorance and
folly."
steps:
Americans focused on
wilderness because that was what they could brag about
relative to
Europe
they draw a parallel
between wilderness and temples, great buildings
argue that we can
experience and worship God in wilderness
grows into a central
argument that experiencing wilderness brings us closer to
God
Before the civil war the usual
view was that wilderness was important but what we strive for
was a
balance between wilderness and civilization
Cole, The Oxbow, 1836--shows wilderness on left and
agriculture
on the right
Man's
optimum
environment is a blend of the wild and the civilized
Schroon Mountain,
Adirondacks, Thomas Cole, (1801-1848) United States, oil on
canvas,
Cleveland Museum of Art; Cleveland, Ohio, 1838
Cole had many followers:
Frederic
Church:
Frederick Church, Twilight in the Wilderness, 1860
artists brought to people the
idea that wilderness was beautiful and it should lead us to
feelings of
awe
what could we be proud
of--having wilder wilderness
saw nature as bringing
us
closer to God
nature builds character,
makes Americans what we are
it is city people who first
begin
to appreciate wilderness--it is appreciated only when we think
it is
going away
