© 2023 Kreativa. All rights reserved. Powered by JoomShaper
Richardt's Redwoods: Earth Day and a Hudson River School Painter
 |
|
Untitled, c. 1885
Ferdinand Richardt (American, [b. Demark] 1819-1895)
Oil on canvas; 71 1/4 x 47 3/4 x 5 in.
40722
Anonymous Gift |
"Suddenly, from behind the rim of the Moon, in long, slow-motion moments of immense majesty, there emerges a sparkling blue and white jewel, a light, delicate sky-blue sphere laced with slowly swirling veils of white, rising gradually like a small pearl in a thick sea of black mystery. It takes more than a moment to fully realize this is Earth . . . home."
— Edgar Mitchell, Apollo Astronaut
 |
| Event brochure for a 1970 program held at the Bowers Museum shortly after the first Earth Day |
The first rumblings of conservationism in America date back much earlier than the 1960s and ‘70s, with the early 19th Century seeing a major movement by American artists to capture the beautiful scenic landscapes of North America. Though artists approached this end in all manner of ways, perhaps the most important of these movements was one unofficially founded by Thomas Cole in 1825: The Hudson River School, named for the Hudson River Valley which became the locus of the nature scenes painted by these artists. Notable names including Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Edwin Church and our own Ferdinand Richardt are staples of fine art museums today. These painters tended to have similar styles, but despite this each maintained subtly stylistic autonomy with their approach to finding locations, the degree to which their paintings were untouched by signs of man, and how affected a painting’s colors were. The latter of which became the most important aspect for painters like Bierstadt and Church, in addition to bringing incredibly beautiful scenes of nature to rapidly industrializing cities like New York, wildly colorful and ostentatious sunsets tended to sell fantastically. Even well into the age where scenic panoramas could be captured in true-to-life photographic snapshots, these artists managed to set themselves apart by evoking deep emotion, a dimension which photography would not reach for many years.
 |
| Photograph of Ferdinand Richardt c. 1860, from the Royal Library, Copenhagen |
This untitled work by Richardt was painted somewhere near San Francisco, California’s redwood groves in 1885. Though lacking the vibrancy of many of the works from this period, Richardt’s painting of a redwood grove and two deer pausing momentarily in a stream is a freeze-frame of a quiet, introspective moment of nature. Nothing in this painting hints at anthropogenic influence. Instead we are presented with a celebration of nature. The subtle ways in which Richardt uses romanticism, to a lesser extent the color palette, but more the backlighting of the painting’s two deer and using a buck and doe couple, almost assure that the painting will resonate with the 19th Century viewer. Additionally, like many of the paintings of this time, Richard’s untitled work is large, standing at almost 6’. Even at this height the painting just barely does justice to the scale of the redwood trees which are easily ten times the height. In its roundabout way this small scene of nature is a microcosm of the entire planet, something beautiful enough to be worth fighting to protect.
 |
| Close-up of 40722 |
Text and images may be under copyright. Please contact Collection Department for permission to use. Information subject to change upon further research.
Comments