Sketchbook of Lake George, Catskill Mountains, and Hudson River Subjects 1834 - 1838

Curator: The delicacy of the line in John William Casilear’s sketchbook from the mid-1830s is striking. A pencil on paper capturing scenes of Lake George, the Catskill Mountains, and the Hudson River. Editor: It feels very dreamlike, almost faded. The delicate lines create a sense of vastness, but also a kind of melancholy. A quiet observation of the landscape. Curator: Casilear belonged to the Hudson River School, a movement rooted in portraying the sublime American landscape. He imbued the scenes with the emotion that became synonymous with romanticism, but without the overt dramatic grandeur. Editor: Absolutely. It's that romantic yearning for unspoiled nature that is so resonant even today, especially when thinking about how these landscapes are constantly threatened. How much is visually documented, remembered or is a complete myth. Curator: Think of the tree as a symbol, acting as a framing device leading the viewer's eye toward the distant, calm lake. Trees mark the threshold between the familiar foreground and the ethereal distance—a common Romantic trope that also features very heavily within other cultures' landscape depictions. Editor: And this connects with its legacy, too. Tourism boomed along these landscapes in the 19th century due in no small part to artwork such as this one that romanticized nature. But did access improve the preservation or only the commercialisation of the natural world? The line blurs. Curator: An interesting consideration. Casilear’s meticulous sketching captures something timeless about the intersection of nature, identity, and belonging to place, no matter the cost. Editor: For me, seeing this quick and thoughtful rendering of this landscape reminds me to critically engage with what remains, to think beyond just the beauty of the scene.