Romantic Blog

Romantic Era - Hudson River School vs. Realist Style

I was surprised at how many different art styles emerged during the Romantic era.  These include the Romantic style, Realist style, Impressionism and Post Impressionism, Photography, and Art Nouveau.  Today, my discussion is a comparison of Hudson River School and the Realist Style.

Hudson River School

I was completely drawn to the paintings created by Hudson River School painters.  Hudson River School is actually not a school, but a mid-19^th century American art movement.  The subject matter of Hudson River School painters was American landscapes that focused on the Hudson River Valley and landscapes in other areas that were similar in terms of the symbolism of the country’s potential prosperity and resources.  

This movement is considered an early contributor to environmentalism.  This style of painting emphasized nature, which was an element of the Romantic Era.  Hudson River School painters celebrated American landscape which helped develop America’s potential for people throughout America and the world.  These paintings captivate their audience and create positive emotions and feelings.

Realist Style

Realist style art expanded the idea about what should be the subject of a painting.  Like Hudson River School, Realism depicted the natural world.  However, while Hudson River School focused on the beautiful American landscape, Realism paintings depicted everyday life and ordinary people.  This style can be dark and depressing rather than transporting the viewer into a place where their thoughts and feelings are positive and creates feelings of hope and peace.  Realist painters replaced these romantic images with real life images.  

Hudson River School Works of Art

Niagara, Frederic Edwin Church c. 1857

Frederic Edwin Church was an American painter that was considered part of the Hudson River School movement.  He is known as the artist that was able to capture the beauty and power of Niagara Falls.  This painting debuted in a one-painting exhibit at a New York art gallery.  The admission was .25 cents.  100,000 visitors viewed the picture in the first two weeks.  The painting was exhibited in other American cities and made two tours in Britain. 

Church painted Niagara with the intent of capturing the power and beauty of Niagara Falls.  He accomplished his goal.  He was able to create the illusion of the sheer magnitude of the falls by selecting a non-traditional canvas.  It is twice as wide as it is tall.  He also painted the falls from the perspective of being very close, there is very little landscape included.  This gives the viewer the feeling of the amount of water that is rushing over the ledge.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Thomas Moran c. 1872

Moran joined the Hayden Geological Survey in 1871 that explored the area that would become Yellowstone National Park.  Moran, along with William Henry Jackson, a photographer, documented the area with images.  Moran relied on his sketches and photos to create The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  Moran’s work helped influence Congress to make Yellowstone the first National Park.  Congress purchased the large painting, 7 by 12 foot, from Moran to celebrate the legislation.

Not only was Moran instrumental in the creation of Yellowstone as a National Park, his images helped transform the west as a tourist destination.  The expansion of the railroad to the American west provided access to Americans living in the eastern United States access to these new lands.

Moran’s use of a very large canvas allowed him to create a large-scale painting which is very impactful and awe-inspiring.  Along with the size of the painting, his choice of colors feels rich.  I think it is the use of the browns and earthy greens that creates this feeling.  His use of light and shadows create depth.  It gives the viewer the sense of the depth of the canyon when your eye is drawn to the water in the bottom of the canyon.

Realism Works of Art

 The Stone Breakers, Gustave Courbet c. 1849-50

Gustave Courbet was a French painter.  He had originally planned on studying law but wanted to become a painter.  Courbet was self-taught and became known for his realistic depictions of everyday life.   He has been given credit for coming up with the term realism.  He felt that he could not paint what he hadn’t seen. 

The Stone Breakers is also known as Stonebreakers.  It was painted in France after Courbet saw two laborers breaking rocks along the road.   In this painting, the two subjects represent poverty.  Courbet’s painting depicts the hard labor of the poverty-stricken subjects.  I think he’s able to do this through the art elements.  He uses dirty browns and shades of gray and depicts the harshness of the work with one subject carrying a heavy load of rocks while the other one is using a pick to break up the rock.  He also uses lines and color to show the condition of the subjects’ clothing.  The painting makes the viewer feel the sense of hardship the subjects felt as they broke stones along the side of the road.  The work is backbreaking and mindless.  These are very undesirable jobs and only those that were desperate would do this work.  

The Gleaners, Jean-Francois Millet c. 1857

Jean-Francois Millet was born in 1814 in the Norman village of Gruchy.  He had artistic ability and was sent to Cherbourg to study with Bon Dumouchel.  It wasn’t long after that he moved to Paris that he returned to Cherbourg.  Millet struggled to find his painting style.  When he moved to Barbizon in 1849, he discovered realism and began painting images of rural life.

The Gleaners is a classic example of realism.  It paints a sad picture of how rural workers were treated.  In The Gleaners, the painting depicts three peasant women gleaning a field.  This means they are collecting leftover crops from the field after the harvest.  Millet uses shape and color to accentuate the conditions.  The women are hunched over and look as if they are looking for scraps.  The muted colors in earthy tones make the viewer feel somber.  Additionally, Millet uses light to highlight the sky behind the women while the ground around the women is dark and sparse. 

I’m sure that you can tell from my comments throughout the blog that I really enjoy the Hudson River School works as compared to Realism.  Personally, I want to look at a piece of art and have it move me in a positive way.  I want it to inspire me and transport me to the time and place the painting is capturing, such as The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  After learning about the artist and history of the painting I want to visit Yellowstone National Park.  

Works Cited

“The Hudson River School Overview.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/movement/hudson-river-school/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.

Jones, Muffet. “Realism.” Introduction To Art, boisestate.pressbooks.pub/arthistory/chapter/realism/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.

“Niagara.” Art Object Page, www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.166436.html. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.

Dr. Eleanor Jones Harvey and Dr. Beth Harris, et al. “The Painting That Inspired a National Park.” Smarthistory, smarthistory.org/seeing-america-2/moran-national-park/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.

“Museum Management Program, Thomas Moran Virtual Museum Exhibit.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/thomas_moran/painter_yellowstone.html#:~:text=With%20a%20portfolio%20of%20sketches,that%20was%20displayed%20in%20Congress. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.

“Realism Movement Overview.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/movement/realism/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.

“The Stone Breakers.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Mar. 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stone_Breakers.

“Jean-François Millet.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Feb. 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Millet.