American Romanticism in the Landscape Paintings - Essay Example

Cole’s “The Oxbow” belongs to the American Romantic Movement. In the 19th-century New World, romanticism in the field of visual art was widely viewed in terms of two main subjects: nature and man (Strickland, 2007). In particular, nature and landscape were utterly synonymous. Cole’s painting evidently depicts a picturesque image seen in the Connecticut River in the time of the romantic artist. The masterpiece clearly shows trees, shrubs, waters, and other images visible in the natural landscape.

Further, the landscape painting is portrayed like a picture-postcard perfect, a characteristic of American romanticism. Church’s “The Heart of Andes” also belongs to the 19th-century American romanticism. Similar to Cole’s painting; Church’s artwork depicts the panoramic view of the wilderness. “The Heart of Andes” shows the exotic of nature. In contrast to the cityscape, Church’s painting evokes the untamed and virgin element found in the vast green forest.

American romanticism is basically defined in terms of landscape, seascape, and other natural wonders -- what Kaufman and Macpherson (2005) call sublime and beautiful. The landscape paintings prominent in the 19th-century America are considered as part and parcel of the American romanticism. Cole’s “The Oxbow” and Church’s “The Heart of Andes” are beautiful and sublime landscape artworks characterized in a romantic movement. Both paintings exhibit nature in its grandeur and exotic nature.

References Kaufman, W., & Macpherson, H. (2005). Britain and the Americas: Culture, politics, and history. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. Strickland, C. (2007). The Annotated Mona Lisa: A crash course in art history from prehistoric to post-modern (2nd ed.). Kansas, MO: Andrews McMeel Publishing.