Thomas Cole and the Hudson River painters were American artists who mainly depicted landscapes and put their focus on nature. Edouard Manet and the early impressionists painted modern life and developed their own distinctive style of painting with small, visible brushstrokes and the emphasis on the accurate depiction of light (Sayre, 2019). Hudson River landscapes are characterized by the realistic and sometimes idealized portrayal of nature, while impressionists mainly aimed to convey their sensory impressions of a scene or a character.
One of Thomas Cole’s most famous works is The Oxbrow, a Romantic landscape depicting the Connecticut River Valley after a thunderstorm. The composition is divided into two parts: a dark wilderness with rain clouds on the left, and a peaceful cultivated river bank on the right. The style of the painting is realistic, and it is believed to symbolize the confrontation between nature and civilization.
One of Edouard Manet’s major early works is The Luncheon on the Grass, which depicts two fully dressed men and a naked woman in a rural setting. Manet’s depiction of the background deliberately lacks depth, focusing the viewers’ attention on the figures in the foreground. The contrast between the nude and the fully dressed men alludes to old paintings on mythological subjects, which were the source of inspiration for the artist. For Manet, this painting was transitional from the traditional to impressionism style, which attempts to reinvent the pictorial space.
Overall, Thomas Cole, the Hudson River painters, Edouard Manet and the early impressionists represented two distinct styles of painting, each pursuing their own artistic goals. For Hudson River painters, the landscape was the main subject of artworks, while for impressionists, it was only a means to achieve other goals. The Hudson River artists used realistic techniques, while impressionists gradually moved from the traditional to a distinctive impressionism style of painting.
Reference
Sayre, H. M. (2019). The humanities: Culture, continuity, and change. Pearson.