Under The Trees 1882

Thomas Moran made this painting, Under the Trees, with oil on canvas. It's an idyllic image, and to understand it better, we need to consider when and where it was produced. Moran was a leading figure in the Hudson River School, active in the mid-19th century. This was a group of landscape painters working in the United States who created idealized views of nature. Thinkers of the period believed nature was a manifestation of God, and these paintings promoted the idea of America as a promised land. Consider the role of institutions here: the art market that supported these artists, the museums that displayed their work, and the government that commissioned them to document the landscape. These landscapes contributed to the myth of the American West, which we can research through archival sources. Only through that research can we understand how art is always tied to the social and institutional context in which it's made.