Study of Rocks in Pearson's Ravine

1850·Oil on canvas·61 × 45.7 cm (24 × 18 in.)

<p>Asher B. Durand was a prominent figure of the Hudson River School who contributed to the rise of American landscape painting in the 1840s and 1850s. His <em>Study of Rocks in Pearson’s Ravine</em> depicts a fragment of forested terrain in the Delaware River Valley in New Jersey. The composition is an example of Durand’s intense investigation of nature, executed outdoors and with a high degree of finish and detail. The artist meticulously rendered the moss-covered stone, flowering groundcover, and botanical variety. Such small-scale canvases represent some of the earliest exhibited plein air (outdoor) painting in the United States.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1850
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 61 × 45.7 cm (24 × 18 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Asher Brown Durand

Artist

Asher Brown Durand

Painting

Asher Brown Durand was an important member of the Hudson River School, a fraternity of American landscape painters initially led by Thomas Cole, who served as Durand’s instructor in the 1840s. Durand’s naturalistic paintings brilliantly capture the fresh, untamed beauty of the American wilderness.

New York City

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