Valley with Deer 

Thomas Hill's "Valley with Deer" invites us into a tranquil scene, but also hints at the complex relationship between humans and the natural world. Hill, who was born in England but spent much of his career painting the American West, made landscapes during a time of westward expansion and growing awareness of its impact on the environment. The painting depicts a vast valley, likely in California, with a small herd of deer in the foreground. The deer, symbols of wildness, seem to be observing us, the viewers, as much as we are observing them. They invite us to reflect on the changing landscape and the displacement of both Indigenous peoples and wildlife that accompanied the growth of the United States. These paintings romanticized nature, even as it was being exploited. Hill captures the beauty of the valley, but it's a beauty tinged with the knowledge of what was being lost. Consider the emotional weight of witnessing such a place, knowing its future is uncertain. How does Hill's idealized vision sit with this tension?