Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) was considered the father of American Landscape Architecture. He is known throughout history for his landscape creations such as Central Park in New York City and Niagara Reservation in New York. Olmsted was an avid travel and had a keen eye for understanding the environment around him. He did not only evaluate the environment, but he also took interest in the people around the world as well. In Journey to the Southern Seaboard States, Frederick Olmsted travel to the southern states of the United States (we focused on Washington D.C., Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia). Olmsted describes his journey as travels. He goes into great detail about the environment, the people, and makes many comparisons of south …show more content…
Considering his agricultural landscape back ground it is only rational that we assume he would critic the environment around him. Olmsted perception of the landscape of the south is very critical and he has a lot of negative things to say. However, in the moments that Olmsted compliments the southern environment, we are able to witness the his amazingly he describes and dissects the world around him. While in Raleigh, North Carolina, he describes a church nearby. “A church, near the Capitol, not yet completed, is very beautiful; cruciform in ground plan, the walls of stone, and the interior wood-work of oiled native pine (pg. 319, Olmsted).” Olmsted’s passion for agricultural landscaping can be seen through his poetic and detailed descriptions. Surely, we must take into account that the area is near the state capitol, therefore, it is only rational that the landscape would be most developed. Olmsted has many other occasion such as this in the book Frederick Law Olmsted, landscape architect, 1822-1903 which was written by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. This book details a series of Olmsted travels, including the south. While near the Mississippi river Olmsted writes, “before me an indescribably vast expanse of the forest, extending on every hand to a hazy horizon, in which, directly in front of me, swung the round, red, setting sun” (pg. 115, Olmsted Jr.). Regardless of Olmsted’s personal views and description of southern people and southern life, the capacity his has for analyzing the environment is very impressive. His work in agricultural landscaping is still being appreciated to this very day and will continue to
In the early years of America, the founding fathers’ passion for gardening and agriculture shaped America’s national identity. At least, that is what Andrea Wulf communicates in her novel, Founding Gardeners. During the revolutionary generation, agricultural success was vital to the nation’s economic well-being. During the struggles of political life, the founding fathers utilized gardening as a therapeutic outlet and their love of nature reflects in some of their political endeavors. Due to this fascination with nature, the founding fathers sought to expand their horizons westward. Because of westward expansion, America gained a significant amount of fertile land which contributed to the nation 's’ agrarian identity. The wilderness and landscape
Topography is the features of land in an area. Those features can include rivers, mountains, lakes, hills, forrests, etc. A White Heron is overflowing with references to the topography of Maine, and more specifically the coast of Maine. The first sentence of Jewett’s A White Heron gives the reader a preview into the appreciation Jewett has for her home state of Maine, “The woods were already filled with shadows one June evening, just before eight o’clock, though a bright sunset still glimmered faintly among the trunks of the trees” (413). While this description isn’t specific to Maine on the surface, it is specific to Jewett’s interpretation of the woods at sunset in Maine, and the beauty of color writing is that each reader will imagine their own sunset based on their own woods in their own region. Jewett was just beginning and her description of the land around her, and as the story progresses the d...
Thomas Hart Benton was born in the familiar, small town of Neosho, Missouri. He was named after his granduncle, the famed and prominent pre-American Civil War senator. First Thomas Hart Benton studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and then lived in beautiful Paris for three years. When he came back he moved to New York City after 1912 he turned away from his usual style, modernism, and gradually developed a rugged naturalism that affirmed traditional rural values. By the 1930’s Benton was riding a tide of popular acclaim along with his fellow regionalist Grant Wood, who was responsible for American Gothic, and John Steuart Curry, who was responsible for The Tragic Prelude. The mural, America Today (1930-1931, The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the U.S., New York City), Thomas Hart Benton’s masterpiece, presented an optimistic portrayal of a vital country filled with earthy, muscular figures.
The Chesapeake region and New England colonies greatly differed in their development of their two distinct societies. The Chesapeake region was a loosely fitted society with little connection with each plantation while the New England colonies had tightly knitted communities with a sort of town pride. The difference in unity and the reason for this difference best explain the significant disparity between the dissimilar societies.
“The St. Johns River Entering the Atlantic Ocean” painted by Hermann Herzog stands in American Art as the most ascetically illustrative picture inspired in the Florida coastline. Although, this German American artist settled in Pennsylvania, he painted primarily landscapes inspired in the areas he visited. He traveled and painted throughout Florida, Maine, California and the Northeast side of the country coast.
William H. Pierson, Jr., American Buildings and Their Architects: Technology and the Picturesque, (Doubleday & Company, Inc.), 167.
Burnham is a well-known architect around the world who previously completed work in “Chicago, New York, Washington, San Francisco, Manila, and many other cities” (Pg. 3). He was offered the job to design and build the buildings that would be a part of the World’s Columbian Exposition (Chicago World’s Fair), after Chicago won the bid for the fair in 1890, and eventually took the offer with his assistant, John Root. The construction of the fair began in 1891 and did not completely finish until the fair was already halfway over in the summer of 1893. During those two and a half years, the success and reputatio...
Rielly, Edward J. “Out of the Landscape of His Past.” Journal of American Cultuer 16.3 (1993): 47.
Landscape painting was extremely important during the middle of the nineteenth century. One of the leading practitioners of landscape painters in America was Thomas Cole. He visited many places seeking the “natural” world to which he might utilize his direct observations to convey the untainted nature by man to his audience. His works resolved to find goodness in American land and to help Americans take pride in their unique geological features created by God. Thomas Cole inspired many with his brilliant works by offering satisfaction to those seeking the “truth” (realism) through the works of others.
Divine, Robert A., T.H. Breen, George M. Frederickson, R. Hal Williams, Ariela J. Gross, H.W. Brands, and Randy Roberts. America: Past and Present- Volume I: To 1877. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson, 2011. Print.
Born in Bolton, Lancashire, England in 1837, Thomas was taken to the United States at the age of 7. (Ency. Bio. Vol. 11). He was educated in Philadelphia public schools for his elementary years and then indentured to a wood engraving firm in 1853-1856. (Am.Nat.Bio.Vol 15). He had three brothers who were artist, but he learned to paint from his brother Edward Moran. He did do some watercolors during his apprentictionship and in 1856, he painted his first oil painting titled, Among the Ruins There He Lingered. (Vol.11). Moran still working closely with his brother became an informer student of Philadelphia marine artist James Hamilton. Hamilton may have introduced him to the work of J.M.W, turner and a belief in close study of nature in his foundation of panting. (Vol.15) Moran exhibited landscapes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the fine arts for the first time in 1856 and then later elected academician in 1861. He continued to exhibit there through 1905. (Vol.15). 1862 Thomas married Mary Nimmo who had always thought to be her husbands student. (Vol.15). The beginning of his life had just started and didn't know that he would accomplish so many feats with his artwork of nature.
The current size, inherent values, and economic status of the United States owes greatly to the paramount figures and events that took place during the Early National Period of the country. However, while there is no doubt that such events- and the figures behind them- were of great importance and have molded the country into the pristine product that it is today, the various construction projects of that time have gone largely unnoticed. Canals, being one of the most prominent advances in transportation, are prime examples of forgotten catalysts of the American nation. The construction of canals- particularly the Erie Canal- during the 19th century played a key role in the geographic, economic, and cultural development of the country by
Many people regarded nature and the world with their eyes only. However, some perceived the world through all their senses. They stopped and listened to what appeared before them, and then they experienced their surroundings. One person who looked beyond his first impression was Francis Parkman. Parkman’s love for history and nature drove him to overcome his physical weaknesses. He pursued his passion with the diligence of a soldier and brought a different perspective to nineteenth century history.
William Bradford and John Smith’s two pieces both convey America as a place to escape the European world but completely fail to contain congruency on what early America was like in this time period.
During the 1970s, artist began creating what is known today as “Land Art.” This style of art literally uses nature and various processes to convey a greater meaning. To this day, there are many artists creating Land Art. Three artists that have heavily influenced Land Art are, Robert Smithson, Maya Lin, and Andy Goldsworthy.