The Hudson River
school art movement reflected America’s need for tranquility in nature in the mid-1800s,
but John Frederick Kensett took that tranquility to a higher, spiritual level
with Luminism. The main characteristic of a luminist painting is the light
source or rays of light, so the sky usually takes up a large percentage of the
painting. This light, as Patricia Mandel points out, symbolizes God’s presence
in nature, and how being immersed in a natural setting can bring people closer
to their spirituality. This bright light creates vivid colors that make the
natural settings in the painting appear to shine. Just like in the Hudson River
school, the natural and anthropologic objects are detailed and realistic, but
there are also a stronger focus on colors and shading. Today, there are modern
artists, like the Adirondack-native, Anne Diggory, who are keeping John
Frederick Kensett’s movement alive.
Anne Diggory only paints
landscapes. However, she calls all of her paintings “hybrids” because she
paints on top of her own photographs or other artists’ paintings. With her
hybrids, she combined the 19th century landscape movement of the
Hudson River school, specifically luminism, with the modern art of landscape
photography. In luminism, the objects and the sky are usually framed parallel
and in a geometrically organized way. Anne Diggory turned this idea on its head
with her painting Shoreline Reflection.
Diggory started with Kensett’s painting Lake
George, which she laid on top of a photograph she took of the same location.
Then she painted on top of this print. Diggory brings modernism and luminism
together in this painting by not making the painting geometrically pleasing; her
photograph is vertical and Kensett’s painting is horizontal, and as she layers
paint on top of these things, you can see all of the layers in her painting.
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| "Lake George" |
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| "Shoreline Retrospection" |
It amazes me when
artists come up with unique ideas because humans have been making art for so
long, I don’t know how anything can be original anymore. With her hybrid
paintings, Diggory combines the modern art movement with the Hudson River
school movement of tranquil landscape paintings. With Diggory, Kensett’s
Luminism is still alive.
http://hybridvisions.diggory.com/12-shoreline-retrospection/
For my website project I have also read a lot about luminist paintings and I share your interest in the subject. I think it is interesting to compare and contrast Thomas Cole and his fellow painters at the Hudson River School with Luminist painters because both groups convey God's presence in nature but they do so in different ways. Cole aspired to portray nature in its most wild, god-given states and often distinguishes God's power and dominance over nature and humans. In contrast, the Luminist, like you say, focus on color and lighting more, especially of water and this is intended to symbolize the harmonious relationship between God and nature. John Paul Driscoll, in John Frederick Kensett: An American Master, really captures the essence of luminism when he states that for luminists, God's presence was in the stillness of nature and not necessarily in its wildness. I think this view of God and nature of being one and in harmony is also a reflection of the fact that luminism surfaced after the Civil War and naturally, artists reveled in and desired the peace and quiet of nature. Overall, I find it interesting how perceptions of God and nature have changed and how these perceptions are portrayed in paintings.
ReplyDeleteIn my post I touched upon a shift in style and focus in landscape painting. I think Anne Diggory is a great example of further evolution and exploration. In her piece she has used both aspects of the Hudson River School and more modern styles. Her photography, as well as the use of a a traditional painting focus on the accuracy of the scene. But the addition of her own painting explores color and texture. Together these different pieces complement each other to produce a work of art that is full of self expression and an appreciation of the past.
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