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Thomas Cole wrote "American Scenery" in 1836 to show that American landscapes were admirable in their own right, despite being different than European scenery. He identified four universal elements of scenery - mountains, forests, water, and sky - and described the sublime and picturesque qualities found in American versions of each. Harriet Martineau traveled throughout the US from 1834-1836 and wrote "Pine Orchard House" in 1838 about her experiences staying at the Catskill Mountain House hotel, helping introduce American landscapes to British audiences.
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- 1. Thomas Cole and HarrietThomas Cole and Harriet Martineau:Martineau: Defenders of American SceneryDefenders of American Scenery Presented by Meredith Gorres, Marist College
- 2. ““American Scenery”American Scenery” Written by Thomas Cole in 1836Written by Thomas Cole in 1836 Showed the British (and some Americans)Showed the British (and some Americans) that American scenery was still admirablethat American scenery was still admirable even though it was differenteven though it was different
- 3. 5 Qualities of American Scenery Sublime Beautiful Picturesque Associations Ability to ennoble us
- 4. Sublime Open expanses of land The Hemlock Tree Lofty Mountains
- 5. Changes in the weather The Elm tree The sky on winter evenings Beautiful
- 7. Associations
- 9. Ability to Ennoble the Viewer
- 10. Four Universal Elements of Scenery Mountains Forest Water Sky
- 11. MountainsMountains • The most conspicuous objects of the landscape • European mountains – “Mostly bare” – Picturesque – Possessive of grandeur • American mountains – Covered by dense forests – Gorgeously clothed
- 12. ForestForest PrimitivePrimitive UncultivatedUncultivated Possessive of peculiarities, individuality,Possessive of peculiarities, individuality, and uniquenessand uniqueness Authentic and realAuthentic and real
- 13. Types of TreesTypes of Trees Oak s Elm s Birche s BeechesPlane s Hemlocks Deciduous forests
- 14. WaterWater • Landscape defective without itLandscape defective without it • ““A most expressive feature”A most expressive feature” • The Rhine vs. the HudsonThe Rhine vs. the Hudson • Ability to mirror surroundingsAbility to mirror surroundings
- 15. SkySky The soul of all sceneryThe soul of all scenery Affects the landscapeAffects the landscape England’s Silver Haze The North’s Blue Skies The Torrid Zone’sThe Torrid Zone’s Thunder CloudsThunder Clouds Italy’s Golden AtmosphereItaly’s Golden Atmosphere
- 16. Harriet Martineau 1802-1876 European travel writer A prominent Victorian woman of letters Traveled the US from 1834-1836
- 17. ““Pine Orchard House”Pine Orchard House” Written in 1838 about her experiencesWritten in 1838 about her experiences at the Catskill Mountain Houseat the Catskill Mountain House
- 18. Jasper Francis Cropsey’s “Catskill Mountain House”- 1855
- 19. What It Looks Like TodayWhat It Looks Like Today View from ledge Hotel site
Editor's Notes
- My name is Meredith Gorres, and I currently attend Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. Today I will be discussing Thomas Cole and Harriet Martineau and their contributions to the defense of American scenery.
- Thomas Cole and the other Hudson River painters and authors considered it their job to prove to the Europeans that although American scenery was different from theirs, it was still admirable. Cole wrote “American Scenery” in 1836 to do just that. He saw the qualities of the American landscape in a positive light, while the Europeans, and some Americans, could do nothing but disparage it in relation to Europe’s. Cole believed that they had to be either ignorant or prejudiced to call American scenery uninteresting, lacking in beauty, “rude”, “monotonous”, and “destitute of the vestiges of antiquity.” He denied their claim that American scenery could not possibly be compared with European scenery. Cole also accused Americans who subscribed to this way of thinking as having only read up on European scenery and knowing nothing of their own.
- In this essay, he used five qualities to defend American scenery: sublime, beautiful, picturesque, associations, and the ability to ennoble us.
- The word sublime is defined as exalted, noble, and having awe-inspiring beauty or grandeur. It is synonymous with glorious, splendid, superb, resplendent, and gorgeous. Sublime as defined by Edmund Burke is “an overpowering sense of awe bordering on terror that is produced by perceiving darkness, obscurity, power, solitude, and vastness”. In nature, sublimity is represented by the hemlock tree, open expanses of land, and lofty mountains.
- The word beautiful is defined as lovely, pretty, fair, and comely, although those words do not suggest as much emotional excitation. Objects of beauty stir emotion through the senses and excite the keenest of pleasure. To Burke, the beautiful was represented by “the pleasurable qualities of delicacy, smallness, brightness, mildness, clearness, smoothness, gracefulness, gentleness, calmness, gradual variations, and soft colors.” The elm, changes in the weather, and the summer and winter skies are all representations of the beautiful in nature.
- The dictionary definition of picturesque is anything that is striking or interesting in an unusual way, irregularly or quaintly attractive, or strikingly expressive or vivid. In nature, it is used to describe any aspect of a landscape or a landscape itself that possesses irregularity, asymmetry, roughness, and variety. It is represented by jagged cliffs, dead trees, and medieval ruins.
- Associations are connections in a landscape with the human past, or simply put, structures that man has dotted the landscape with. Usually, the word “associations” was used to represent old buildings such as castles and mansions. Europeans thought of American scenery as devoid of associations and considered this a major defect. Cole defends American scenery in this instance by claiming that associations are not necessary in order for scenery to be awe-inspiring. True sublimity to Cole is represented by the western American mountains, which he calls “the most venerable remains of American antiquity”. One who stands on them can look out on a “shoreless ocean” that is “unislanded by the recorded deeds of man.”
- After claiming that they are not so important, he does come out and state that America does in fact possess historical and legendary associations. He begins by mentioning the battle sites of the American Revolution. Legends are possessed by many mountain streams and rocks, and these he says are “worthy of poet’s pen or painter’s pencil.” He goes on to suggest that associations can also belong to the present and the future. After all, America is a younger nation than those of Europe that boast of incredible castles and temples. He is basically saying, “What’s the rush? Give us time, and we will soon have magnificent temples of human successes that we can be proud of.” Besides, it is the normal, average, everyday building that speaks of freedom, not the ostentatious temple or the ruined tower that is a symbol of outrage. As one looks over uncultivated land, the mind can imagine what might happen there in the future. “Poets yet unborn shall sanctify the soil”, Cole says.
- To both Thomas Cole and Harriet Martineau, American scenery has the ability to ennoble the viewer. Ennoble simply means to make noble, elevate, or to raise to the rank of nobility. To those who could appreciate the beauty of American scenery, it had a very spiritual effect on them. However, Cole mourns the unnecessary destruction of nature caused by those who are “dull of soul”. Martineau notices dullness more specifically in her fellow tourists who would prefer to read a newspaper than look out at the view or who preferred to complain about nature’s little annoyances.
- Thomas Cole analyzes the presence of four universal elements of scenery: mountains, forest, water, and sky. He praises these features of American scenery for three qualities: beauty, picturesqueness, and occasionally sublimity.
- Cole takes each of the four elements one by one and compares their manifestation in American scenery with their manifestation in Europe’s. He begins with mountains, which he calls the most conspicuous objects of the landscape. European mountains, he says, are “mostly bare”, while “American mountains are generally clothed to the summit by dense forests.” European mountains may be picturesque and possessive of grandeur, but the “gorgeous garb of the American mountains there is more than equivalent.”
- In America, the forests occupy quite a bit of land and are primitive in comparison to Europe’s. There are all sorts of trees in all stages of growth. This variety is to Cole, quite picturesque. He compares trees to men and culture to pruning. Pruned trees are like cultured men, he states. They all resemble each other and possess no peculiarities or uniqueness. However, grandeur is found in uncultivated forests. Experiencing life through the battering of the elements has made them more authentic and real.
- Just as America contains much diversity in the way of people, its forests also contain much diversity. No forest rivals American forests in variety in Cole’s opinion. Oaks, elms, birches, beeches, planes, hemlocks, and many other kinds of trees populate the forests. Hills are covered in light and shade and every tint of green. There is no “unvarying monotony”, as he calls it, but rather a “charming diversity.” Trees grow in groups, and many different groups can be seen at various levels of the mountains and hills on which they grow.
- Cole claims that without water, “every landscape is defective”. In calling it “a most expressive feature, he compares it to the human eye. He finds peace and tranquility in the unrippled lake and turbulence and impetuosity in the rapid stream and headlong waterfall. Cole rhetorically asks his readers, “In this great element of scenery what land is so rich?” It is obvious that he is referring to American scenery. He then compares the Hudson with the Rhine. The Rhine has castled crags, vine clad hills, and ancient villages. The Hudson is surrounded by wooded mountains, rugged precipices, green undulating shores, and an unlimited capacity for art to improve upon it. The water’s ability to mirror its surroundings will allow the Hudson to one day reflect temples, towns, and domes in all degrees of picturesqueness and magnificence.
- Cole calls the sky “the soul of all scenery”. In it, he says, are the “fountains of light and shade and color.” He gives credit to the sky for making the earth “so lovely at sunrise, and so splendid at sunset.” Whatever expression the sky takes on, the features of the landscape are all affected in unison. Although the appearance of the sky changes from one day to the next, it is always beautiful in its own way, whether it is the clear blue sky of the north, the thunder clouds that pile in heaps in the torrid zone, the silver haze of England, or the golden atmosphere of Italy. However, when one travels from Europe and sits on the banks of the Hudson, that person will have to admit that American skies are unsurpassed. Specifically, he compares American skies with Italian skies by saying that “the American summer never passes without many sunsets that vie with the Italian.”
- The defense of American scenery by Cole and others did not go unnoticed, even by Europeans. Their writings and paintings inspired European tourists like Harriet Martineau to come to America to see if what they said was so. Martineau was a European travel writer and prominent Victorian woman of letters who lived from 1802-1876. She visited sites across the United States from 1834-1836. Subjects that she discussed ranged from politics, slavery, and education to prisons, weather, and cemeteries. These were drawn from her observations of New England, the mid-Atlantic states, and the South.
- However, no place was as inspiring to her as the Catskill Mountain House. She visited it ten years after it opened for business when it was the only large mountain resort hotel in the country. It was renowned for its awesome surroundings. In 1838, she wrote an essay entitled “Pine Orchard House” about her experiences at the Catskill Mountain House. It was clearly a religious experience for her. She was not alone in her sentiments, however. Many nineteenth century tourists told of rejoicing in the “sublime” in nature in reference to their views from their hotel windows. Nearly 2,300 feet up in the mist, many visitors to the hotel experienced the same true feeling of spiritual joy. Visible from the hotel was Connecticut, Vermont, the Berkshires of Massachusetts, and the Hudson Valley from Poughkeepsie to Albany.
- She described the view from her hotel window as “musical with divine and human speech.” The world seemed to lie at her feet. She marveled one Sunday morning at how the sunlight broke through the spaces in the dense fog and lit up the church steeples, farm buildings, and river below. In her opinion, only a human being with interest and a mature mind could completely comprehend, “sanctify”, and be charmed by such a view. Upon having to join an expedition to Kaaterskill Falls later that day, she felt grieved. She could see waterfalls anywhere, but “nowhere else such a mountain platform.” Viewing the sunrises and sunsets was to her a spiritual experience. She likened them to the “process of creation,” where the Earth was formless and void until light was commanded to shine on it. Just in case for Q&A: Jasper Francis Cropsey 1823-1900, American artist, b. Staten Island, N.Y. Trained as an architect, Cropsey designed two churches in Staten Island and several stations on the Sixth Ave. elevated railway in Manhattan (1876). A member of the Hudson River School of painters, he was a founder of the American Water Color Society and is particularly noted for his autumn landscapes and Civil War scenes.
- And here’s a little bonus. This is what is left of the Catskill Mountain House as of spring 2007. The topmost picture shows a view from the ledge. The bottommost picture shows where the Catskill Mountain House was located.