Le paysage comme art national : la peinture de paysage aux Etats-Unis durant le XIXe siècle

Details

Supervisors

Roucloux, Joël

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en histoire de l'art et archéologie, orientation générale, à finalité didactique

Abstract

enLandscape painting achieved the special status of national art during the 19th century in the United States. During this period when the American identity was still in formation, Americans discovered in the representations of Nature the hopes and ideals of their young nation, then in territorial expansion, where the exceptional beauty of its landscapes was associated with the idea of the land promised by God to a chosen people. It was also a time where transcendentalism was developing, a philosophical movement that considered Nature to be a reflection of divine creation. This dissertation looks at how this vision of the American land was interpreted and conveyed by artists in their work. The painter Thomas Cole was the first major landscape painter to emerge and transcend landscape painting into this new role. He was followed by the Hudson River School, which saw the emergence of other great names such as Asher B. Durand, Frederic Edwin Church and Albert Bierstadt.