An Appreciation:
Asher B. Durand

 Asher B. Durand was a 19th century American artist. A landscape painter, he led the second generation of Huson River School artists.

Durand was born on August 21, 1796 in Jefferson Village (now Maplewood), New Jersey. His father was a watchmaker and silversmith and Asher worked in the family business before becoming apprenticed to a New Jersey engraver, Peter Maverick, in 1812. By 1817, Asher had become a partner in the engraving business, managing its New York branch.

At the same time, Durand began to study drawing at the American Academy of Fine Arts. His work there impressed the well-known artist John Trumbull and in 1820, Trumbull commissioned Durand to make an engraving of Trumbull's masterpiece. Completed in 1823, the quality of the engraving was such that Durand soon was recognized as an important figure in the New York art world. However, because Durand had accepted the commission independently, it led to the end of his association with Maverick.

Durand then went on to head a number of printmaking firms. At the same time, he became involved in New York's intellectual and cultural circles. He was a member of James Fenimore Cooper's Bread and Cheese Club where artists and intellectuals discussed issues relating to culture. When that club disbanded, Durand founded the Sketch Club to carry on such discussions. Perhaps more importantly, Durand was one of the founders of the New York Drawing Association, which, in 1826, became the National Academy of Design.

Through Trumbull, Durand became aware of the work of a young artist named Thomas Cole. In fact, Durand was one of the first New Yorkers to purchase one of Cole's works. Durand was very impressed by Cole's approach to landscape painting and it influenced his own art. Durand and Cole became fast friends.

During the early 1830s, Durand increasingly shifted his focus from engraving to painting. By 1835, following the advice of New York businessman and art collector Luman Reed, Durand gave up engraving completely.

At first, Durand primarily produced portraits and genre scenes with the occasional landscape. This included a series of portraits of the American Presidents. However, following a sketching expedition to the Adirondacks in 1837 with Cole, Durand was converted to a landscape painter.

In the summer of 1840, Durand and three other artists journeyed to Europe in order to study art. They visited England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Durand copied works by the Old Masters including Claude Lorrain. He also saw the works of more contemporary artists such as John Constable, which had a significant impact on him. Durand was also influenced by the writings of the British critic John Ruskind.

Returning home, Durand exhibited his European works. However, he soon returned to American subjects. During the summer, Durand would make expeditions into the Catskills, the Adirondacks and New England where he would make sketches of the places he visited. Back in New York in the winter, he would combine his sketches to produce large paintings.

Durand was named president of the National Academy of Design in 1845. Following the death of Cole in 1848, American landscape painters looked to Durand as the leader of the second generation of Hudson River School painters. While Cole had incorporated allegory into his landscapes, Durand led the artists to focus on nature. Its spirituality could be revealed by close observation. In the process, sentiments, such as those found in the poetry of Durand's friend William Cullen Bryant, could also be depicted. In 1855, Durand published his ideas in a series of influential articles called “Letters on Landscape Painting.” Among other things, he advised artists to focus on American subjects. Not only would this promote the formation of American art but the American Wilderness was symbolic of the promise of the young country.

Durand continued to follow his Hudson River School formula through the 1860s and 70s. Such repetition led to a decline in critical approval. Also, although his work was shown at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, tastes were changing and Durand's works were viewed as old-fashioned and sentimental. In 1879, Durand painted his last picture some seven years before his death.

Durand married twice.  His first wife was Lucy Baldwin who he married 1821.  Lucy died in 1830.  He subsequently married Mary Frank in 1834.  Durand died in Maplewood on September 17, 1886.  

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Above: One of Durand's most popular works "Kindred Spirits" was done as a posthumous tribute to Thomas Cole, who is depicted admiring the wilderness with Durand's friend the poet William Cullen Bryant.
Below: "The Hunter."

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In addition to panoramas of the wilderness, Durand perfected vertical forest images such as "In the Woods" above.

Durand also painted portraits such as the one of the art collector Luman Reed (above).  In "The Capture of Major Andre" (below), he depicts a scene from the history of the Hudson River valley . 

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Artist appreciation - Asher Durand