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DurandFirst he was an engraver, then portraits drew his interest but it was his fascination with landscapes that form the legacy of Asher B. Durand.
Kindred Spirits:
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The Hudson River School was all about the meeting of the minds of creative geniuses. Durand took inspiration from Thomas Cole and to honor his friend painted his best-loved work, Kindred Spirits, in memory. The painting depicts Thomas Cole with William Cullen Bryant, the American poet, admiring the magnificent view of the Catskills Mountains of New York. It was painted to honor Cole, created after his death in 1848. |
A retrospective of Asher B. Durand opens early in February at the San Diego Museum of Art (SDMART). Appropriately the exhibition title is Kindred Spirits.
Title: Landscape—Composition: In the Catskills, 1848
Artist: Asher B. Durand (American 1796-1886)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 30 x 42 1/4 in. (76.2 x 107.3 cm)
Permanent Collection: San Diego Museum of Art
Museum purchase with funds provided by
The Gerald and Inez Grant Parker Foundation, 1974:72
Image Courtesy: San Diego Museum of Art
Asher Brown Durand was born the son of a watchmaker and silversmith in Maplewood, New Jersey. He initially began work as an engraver famously engraving the Declaration of Independence for John Trumbell, whose painting of that subject can be found on the back of the USA two-dollar bill.
Title: Kaaterskill Clove, 1866
Artist: Asher B. Durand (American 1796-1886)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 38 Ľ x 60 in. (97.2 x 152.4 cm)
The Century Association, New York, 1866.6
Image Courtesy: San Diego Museum of Art
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Durand, as an engraver, was an organizer of the New York Drawing Association which later became the National Academy of Design. Five years later his artistic interests switched from engraving to painting. |
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On one of his earliest Adirondack sketching trips in 1830 he was accompanied by his good friend, Thomas Cole. |
Title: The Stranded Ship, 1844
Artist: Asher B. Durand (American 1796-1886)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 37 x 51 in. (94 x 129.5 cm)
Permanent Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.,
Gift of Ann and Mark Kington / The Kington Foundation through Millennium Funds, 2003.71.1
© 2006 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Image Courtesy: San Diego Museum of Art
Spirituality was a key component for Durand. He wrote, "the representation of the work of God in the visible creation [is] independent of man." His belief was shared with his fellow Hudson River School painters for them nature was a manifestation of the Creator.
Title: White Mountain Scenery, Franconia Notch, New Hampshire, 1857
Artist: Asher B. Durand (American 1796-1886)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 48 1/4 x 71 1/2 in. (122.6 x 181.6 cm)
Permanent Collection: The New-York Historical Society Museum,
The Robert L. Stuart Collection, Stuart-105
Image Courtesy: San Diego Museum of Art
With over fifty works this is a must see retrospective of Asher Brown Durand.
Kindred Spirits:
Asher B. Durand and the American Landscape
San Diego Museum of Art:
February 2 – April 27, 2008