Hudson River School : OXBOW.

     In reading the first article on the Hudson River School on the Metropolitan Museum of Art website, I found it interesting that the style of the paintings could reflect quite well many of the concepts we had already discussed as being features of American culture in the 19th century.   The paintings were more in line with the "mother culture" of England, employing a sense of realism to images while still incorporating Christian ideals as we learned about studying the Second Great Awakening, roughly the same time period.  This is particularly evident in the painting in quesiton: Thomas Cole's 1836 painting "View from Mount HOlyoke, Northhampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm-The Oxbow."This painting could very well be a nearly realistic painting of clearing skies after a thunderstorm.  Indeed, it often seems that as a storm passes, one can look straight above and see dark clouds moving away while the horizon becomes lighter.  This is what Cole depicts in his painting, however, he also demonstrates the power of nature, with broken trees and dark colors on the left showing the destructive force of the storm.  This could be seen as the power of God in nature if examined from a religious point of view.   God's hand has touched the landscape, causing chaos, but he also restores beauty and hope, as seen in the beauty and light of the right side of the painting.  This is related to the Puritan's sense of God, as they viewed nature as a terrifying example of God's beauty and all-knowing power.   However, the Puritans saw the wilderness as something to avoid, whereas Cole seems to be giving the impression that there is hope in nature, and that after difficulty, life goes on and can move forward.  Viewed on a national level, this can be seen in the United States' ability to move forward after war and destruction to bigger and greater things, including spreading throughout the land.