The Beeches

Durand chooses a vertical woodland view suited to close attention to trees, ground and changing light. The museum distinguishes its quiet, pastoral effect from Thomas Cole’s panoramic grandeur. American landscape painting developed through several different ways of presenting nature.

Pale leaning trunks rise on the left. Their proximity allows individual trees to be examined while preserving their height.

A massive dark trunk disappears into foliage. The vertical format follows the tree’s growth and directs attention upward.

A tiny figure stands on the sunlit path. The person supplies a measure of the forest’s height and suggests a walk through it.

Slender trees lean inward from the right. Their opposing directions shape a passage into depth.

A broken stump and fallen wood lie beside the path. The forest includes different stages of growth and decay.

Pale hills appear through the opening. The secluded woodland remains connected with a wider landscape.

Durand began as an engraver and turned towards landscape after travelling with Cole in 1837. His 1855 letters on landscape painting made close observation part of both practice and teaching.