The first issue I am going to describe is the Hudson River Painters: artists, period of work, the main works, and general characteristics of the painters as a group. Thus in the middle of the 19th century, a group of landscape painters was influenced by the romantic trend in painting and began to create pictures of the new movement. This very movement was named after the painting that depicted the landscape of the Hudson River Valley.
The movement was spread among American artists of that period who depicted natural landscapes. Sometimes the artist involved specific techniques to deliberately make some parts of the picture light and others dark which we could not see in natural landscapes; this technique is called luminism. Unlike the painters creating their works according to the realistic movement and not idealizing the natural landscapes, the painters of the Hudson River movement used specific techniques to idealize the depicted images. Sometimes the representatives of the movement of the Hudson River painters tend to combine several images from a number of different sketches in order to create one complete image of the natural landscape.
The general characteristics of the works of the Hudson River Painters were the detailed and very precise depiction of the natural landscapes; some of them tried to depict not only nature but also people in nature’s lap. This method helped to create an illusion of the unity of two elements of the world: nature and the human being; the pictures depicting people against the background of the natural landscape are called pastoral. The followers of the movement organized the Hudson River School which preserves the basic characteristics and principles of a depiction of the first representatives of the movement.
Many painters created their works according to the principles of the Hudson River movement, but I would like to talk about the most outstanding one in my view. He is Albert Bierstadt. The painter was born in Germany, and then his family moved to United States (New Bedford). He obtained knowledge of painting in Germany at Dusseldorf School. When he returned to America, he began to work on the natural landscapes; eventually, he met people who influenced in some way his decisions and, consequently, his works and career.
Thus Albert Bierstadt visited a lecture in New Bedford about the Western territories of the United States of America and this event raised an interest in that region that changed his successive career. Lately, he was a participant of the military expedition; during the period of the journey, he practiced his techniques in the depiction of natural landscapes and native inhabitants of those territories.
The basic methods of the great artist were easel painting and mapmaking; he depicted the images with the help of gouache, oil, pastel, watercolor, and charcoal; his paintings are known for their enormous size of canvases. Albert Bierstadt created his paintings in a number of different similar styles, such as the Hudson River Style and Romanticism; he also used the luminous technique in order to make the image full of high emotions. The images which were the subjects of his paintings were of different categories. Thereby he depicted landscapes and other images of nature, portraits, animals, and people against the backgrounds of nature.
I know that the author returned to the Western regions of the United States of America during all his life in order to paint the majestic natural landscapes of the West. One of the brightest paintings from my point of view is the “Indians Spear Fishing” made in oil on canvas. This work is really impressive and outstanding. This painting in a specific way represents historical and scientific value; it achieved the highest point of the talent of depiction.
During his trips, Albert Bierstadt made sketches and then expressed all the beauty and grandeur of the natural landscapes in his paintings. Thus the picture “Indians Spear Fishing” is also the result of the repainting from previously made sketches. It represents the Native Americans against the background of an enormous landscape. Though the Indians represent the smallest part of the huge majestic landscape, the tiny figures help to understand the greatness of nature and different natural phenomena.
I believe that in this picture the artist also used the technique of luminism as there are extremely light parts in the picture as in the middle and in the bottom right corner. The image is represented in earthy pale tones diluted with the grey tones of the sky and rocks. The picture is organized in two visual directions horizontal and vertical; thus the horizontal direction represents the mirror-like surface of the river and the vertical one depicts the cliffs overhanging over the river and its bank, and the three Indians in the boat. These two directions form an invisible contrast between the light and dark sides.
From first sight, the observer wants to visit the place depicted on the canvas. The harmony of the landscape is similar to the harmony of the pictures depicting biblical paradise. The accuracy of the details’ depiction helps to catch all the parts, even the smallest ones which represent the unity of the image. The reflection of the towering cliffs, trees, and clouds in the water makes the image complete and exactly comparable with reality.