"Niagara Falls," painted in 1872 by John William Casilear, was a favorite subject of 19th-century American artists. It's among 114 paintings by 71 artists in "American Scenery: Different Views in Hudson River School Painting" at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg.

By Mary Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In "American Scenery: Different Views in Hudson River School Painting," curator Judith Hansen O'Toole makes a persuasive argument that there was much more to the artists' intent than realistic depictions of pretty scenery. The School, not an institution, was a loosely aligned group of 19th-century American landscape artists.

O'Toole is also director and CEO of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, where this elegant exhibition premiered and will remain until the end of December. It will then travel to art museums at the State University of New York, New Paltz, and Penn State, among other venues.

In the galleries and handsome accompanying catalog, "Different Views in Hudson River School Painting," O'Toole groups the paintings in pairs or series, emulating the manner in which they were originally displayed. Although such grouping was a distinctive and planned component of these artists' practice, this is the first study and resultant exhibition to focus on it.

The different views alluded to in the titles were those created by the artists as they carefully observed the natural world and painted such changing facets as spring and fall, night and day, storm and calm. By thematically pairing or grouping paintings, the artists could reference physical or metaphysical aspects of the human experience -- for example, the way the seasonal cycles reflect man's life cycle.

O'Toole also points out the symbolism that permeated the paintings, something artists and the general public as well were knowledgeable of. Such references had been part of the European language of landscape painting as early as the 16th century. Some of them derived new meaning within the context of the American experience.

For example, O'Toole writes, cows, depicted in several pastoral scenes early in the exhibition, symbolized "cultivated land and man's harmonic coexistence in nature," while deer became a symbol of "wilderness and innocence before the arrival of man."

Combining such iconography, the artists could make powerful social and political statements.

"Fall on a Lake in New England" by Clinton Loveridge was intended to be exhibited with his "Farm Scene With Cows" (right) to make a statement about the cyclical nature of time that 19th-century audiences would read knowingly. The blossoming fruit trees in the latter are a sign of spring, while autumnal leaves color the other. Click photo for larger image.

Sanford Robinson Gifford was a major figure of the second generation of Hudson River School artists known for his accomplished representation of light in the environment. He painted "A Lake Twilight" in 1861, the first year of the Civil War, in which his brother had died, a turning point for the artist that later motivated him to leave his studio to paint soldiers in the field.

In the background, the sun setting behind a craggy mountain, symbol of the sublime in nature, brings closure to the blood red sky (itself a reference to Frederic Church's famed "Twilight in the Wilderness" of the year before). In the foreground, a man, diminutive against the vast wilderness, struggles to pull a dead deer out of his beached boat, their tension representative of issues facing the young country. "Blasted," or felled, trees symbolize the encroachment of man upon pristine nature.

The exhibition opens with paintings by Thomas Cole and Church. The Hudson River School is generally considered to be the first American school of painting, and Cole (1801-1848) is revered as its founder. Church (1826-1900) was his only formal pupil.

Both paintings are set in Europe -- O'Toole reminds that not all of the School's landscapes or artists were from the Hudson River area -- and while stylistically distinct, share some qualities, carrying on a discussion that O'Toole says passed, on canvas and in person, among the three generations of painters included in the School.

The 114 exhibited paintings by 71 artists, three of them women, all belong to an anonymous Pennsylvania collector whom O'Toole says is very knowledgeable about the works. His reasons for anonymity are the paintings' value and the fact that he thinks too many collectors put their own names before the artwork.

Among the other prominent artists represented are John Casilear, Jasper Francis Cropsey, Asher Durand, Martin Johnson Heade, John Frederick Kensett and Thomas Worthington Whittredge. Their students' works also are exhibited.

When the collection was begun in the 1950s, there was little art world interest in such paintings. Of late, Hudson River School paintings, even by artists lesser known by the general public, have been selling in the six and seven figures at auction.

Since contemporary Americans are inhabiting the end product rather than the frontier of Manifest Destiny, the question remains whether appreciation of the Hudson River School will grow past a limited group of collectors and scholars interested in history and culture.

We'll have the answer if and when the first T-shirts sporting Asher Durand's seminal "Kindred Spirits" start popping up on Wal-Mart racks.

"Scenery" continues through Dec. 31 at 221 N. Main St., Greensburg. The catalog, with essay and full-color illustrations of all paintings, is $35.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday and until 9 p.m. Thursday. The museum will also be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 26 and 27. It will close at 3 p.m. Dec. 24 and 31, and will be closed Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. Admission is $3 suggested donation, free for children under 12. Parking is free. For information, call 724-837-1500 or visit www.wmuseumaa.org.

Clinton Loveridge's "Farm Scene With Cows" carries within its pastoral harmony commentary on the cultivation of the American wilderness by European settlers. It was painted circa 1870 by the Hudson River School artist.