Landscape Beyond the Tree 

Asher Brown Durand created this painting of an American landscape sometime in the mid-19th century. It's an ideal vision of nature, one that leaves out the realities of resource extraction and commercial development. Durand was a central figure in the Hudson River School, a group of landscape painters working in the United States. They made it their business to promote an image of the American landscape as sublime, untouched, and full of spiritual possibility. This was happening at a time when the population was expanding westward, and industrialization was changing the landscape forever. This painting is then both a celebration of the American landscape and an idealized view of the nation’s expansionist goals. Durand served as president of the National Academy of Design, which played a key role in promoting this style. Historians use exhibition records, artists’ letters, and critical reviews to better understand the social role of art. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social context.