Asher B. Durand's "Spirits"
In John Ruskin’s text Modern Painters he discusses the ideas of beauty. He says that “Any material object which can give us pleasure in the simple contemplation of its outward qualities…I call in some way…beautiful” (22). In Asher B. Durand’s painting “Spirits” one can definitely see the beauty in it. There are many things happening in this picture, at first glance it’s impossible to take in everything that the painting has to offer. Taking a closer look, one can see all of the detail and precision that was put into the artwork.
Ruskin also says that “Why we receive pleasure from some forms and colors, and not from others, is no more to be asked or answered than why we like sugar and dislike wormwood” (22). Ruskin is right. We can only wonder why we like sugar more than wormwood and we can only wonder why we like certain colors and firms more than others. For example, even though this painting is colored solely in natural colors like brown and green, one can still see the beauty in it because of the forms and what the picture is portraying.
Another idea that Ruskin discusses is the idea of God and nature, he writes, “We may, indeed, perceive, as far as we are acquainted with His nature that we have been so constructed as, when in a healthy and cultivated state of mind, to derive pleasure from whatever things are illustrative of that nature” (22). This painting is a perfect example of what he is talking about in this text because the painting clearly shows many aspects of nature. It shows the stream with rocks placed in it, it shows the sky, the hillside, and many other pieces of natures. Similarly to what Ruskin is saying in his text, it is only natural to see beauty in nature and in this piece of artwork.
nice explanation of how it's still beautiful only using greens and browns. It's the use of the different shades of those colors that brings that beauty outward. I like your choice of painting and on a side note remember a lot more about this particular painting's subject matter from a past art history class I took a few years back than I'd like too. It's definitely about natural beauty and the undiscovered beauty of nature and wilderness as a whole. Excellent job!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of "wonder" that you pulled out from Ruskin. For instance, I wonder why I love Thai food and hate Mexican food. As far as I can tell, none of us have picked the same artwork, why is it that we are drawn to different elements such as color, setting, etc? We all have different ideas of what is pleasurable, including what is pleasing to the eye. Very cool.
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ReplyDeleteWonderful painting. The two men standing atop that precipice must have been stupified. It probably took them awhile to get to the bottom of that canyon. The greatness of the granite cliffs is spectacular. Anyways, nice comments on Ruskin.
ReplyDeleteIt really is difficult to choose just one reason to love a magnificent portrait, such as the one we both chose. It is an American classic and seems to contain ever element that the Hudson River School painters were known for. I thought you might enjoy this passage I found from the National Gallery of Arts description of the painting and painter: "Kindred Spirits embodies the intimate connection of Durand, Bryant, and Cole. Durand (1796–1886), several years older than Cole and a successful engraver, had been inspired by Cole in the 1830s to take up landscape painting, and was soon a leading practitioner in his own right. Durand's Kindred Spirits paid homage first and foremost to Cole's ability as a painter of American wild scenery, as typified by Cole's A View of the Mountain Pass Called the Notch of the White Mountains (1839), on view in the National Gallery's American collection. The three men had collaborated on "The American Landscape," a collection of vignettes published in 1830 by the New York-based Sketch Club, based in New York."
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