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Place and Perceptions

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Artist(s):		Asher Brown Durand (Jefferson Village, now Maplewood, NJ, Aug 21, 1796 - Sep 17, 1886, Maplewood, N
Title:		*Study of a Wood Interior*
Date:		c. 1855
Dimensions:		16 3/4 in. x 24 in. (42.55 cm x 60.96 cm)
Medium:		Oil on canvas mounted on panel
Credit Line:		Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA, Gift of Mrs. Frederic F. Durand, 1932.1
Location:		On view in Gallery 201

This object is a member of the following groups (click any group name to view all objects in that group):

Themes: MLC Portfolio: Representing the Land
Themes: Ecology
Periods and Styles: The Hudson River School
Exhibitions: A Wildness Distant from Ourselves: Art and Ecology in Nineteenth-Century America
Exhibitions: Regarding America: 19th Century Art from the Permanent Collection
Exhibitions: In and Out of Place
Themes: Flora and Fauna

Object Information

In addition to being one of the earliest American outdoor oil sketches, Study of a Wood Interior has special significance to the Addison in that it was the first example of the early Hudson River School to enter the collection.

With the death of Thomas Cole in 1848, Asher B. Durand was recognized as the leader of American landscape painting. It was Cole, in fact, who had encouraged Durand to become a landscape artist. Whereas Cole's landscapes were often ideal allegories always grandiose, Durand's remained true to nature. Art historian Barbara Novak describes the studies that he made from nature in the 1850s as being the “vanguard in realistic observation” and goes as far as to compare them with similar works by Courbet at this date in France.1

Study of a Wood Interior is representative of the many plein air oil sketches that Durand executed during summers in the Northeast, in locations such as the Catskills, White Mountains, and Adirondacks. Although finished paintings in their own right, these detailed studies were used as models for larger works executed during the winter in the artist's New York studio. The large-scale works, which were highly polished salon pictures done in the grand Hudson River style, lack the immediacy and intimacy evident in Study of a Wood Interior. The coarse brushstrokes and tactile pigment lend a sense of spontaneity to the picture. The close-up view helps to engage the viewer directly. One can almost feel the moist, cool air of the mossy wood. Moreover, the meticulous attention to detail, perhaps a result of Durand's experience as an engraver, speaks of reality.

Durand believed that in addition to revealing the laws of art, the study of minute elements of nature could lead to the understanding of universal truths. In his now famous "Letters on Landscape" he wrote:

There is yet another motive for referring you to the study of Nature early—its influence on the mind and heart. The external appearance of this our dwelling place, apart from its wondrous structure and functions that minister to our well-being, is fraught with lessons of high and holy meaning, only surpassed by the light of Revelation.2

Durand's reverence for nature led him to question the wisdom of relying on precedents established by earlier masters, such as Claude Lorraine. Although his larger works retained such Claudian-derived compositional devices as dark foregrounds, framing trees, and distant mountains, in his studies Durand allowed the elements of nature herself to dictate compositional structure. The rocks and trees in Study of a Wood Interior are more than props. Their varying shapes, volumes, and natural placement work together to form a delicately balanced and ordered design. As he explained, a painting “will be great in proportion as it declares the glory of God by a representation of his works, and not the works of man.”3 Durand cited books and occasional interaction with fellow artists as being all one needed to learn the mechanics of art. "Then let me earnestly recommend to you one STUDIO which you may freely enter, and receive in liberal measure the most sure and safe instruction ever meted to any pupil the STUDIO OF NATURE.”4

Despite Durand's call for the meticulous study of nature, he did not advocate literal transcription. While he advised his pupils to begin by recording exactly what they saw, this was only a preliminary step. The practice would help the young artist to become intimate with nature's infinity, in preparation for the more advanced stage of picking and choosing among her elements in order to create the most effective composition possible. He believed that a mature artist could modify or omit subordinate details whenever they detracted from the beauty of predominate features. Durand's son described his father's creative process:

My father’s practice was, while faithfully painting what he saw, not to paint all that he saw. Finding trees in groups, he selected one that seemed to him, in age, colour, or form, to be the most characteristic of its species, or in other words, the most beautiful. In painting its surroundings, he eliminated all shrubs and other trees which interfered with the impression made by this one. Every outdoor study, as well as every pictorial composition, was regarded as a sort of dramatic scene in which a particular tree or aspect of nature may be called the principal figure; other trees, as in the case of a study, being subordinate and relative value in giving the most interesting object strong relief. To him, certain objects and aspects were more beautiful than others, and not so many details to be servilely and indiscriminately imitated.5

This practice of depicting carefully selected parts of nature in order to create a more perfect whole is analogous to Durand's use of the outdoor sketches to create his studio works. Although they are studies, these small oils stand on an equal footing with his large-scale canvases and certainly meet Durand's own requirements: "That is a fine picture which at once takes possession of you—draws you into it—you traverse it—breathe its atmosphere—feel its sunshine, and you repose in its shade without thinking of its design or execution, effect or color.”6

Allison Kemmerer, Addison Gallery of American Art: 65 Years, A Selective Catalogue (Andover, Massachusetts: Addison Gallery of American Art, 1996), pp. 361-62

1. Barbara Novak, American Painting of the Nineteenth Century: Realism, Idealism, and the American Experience (New York: Harper & Row, 1979), p. 84.

2. Asher B. Durand, "Letters on Landscape Painting," The Crayon, 17 January 1855, p. 34.

3. Asher B. Durand, "Letters on Landscape Painting," The Crayon, 31 January 1855, p. 66.

4. Quoted in John Durand, The Life and Times of A. B. Durand (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1894), p. 212.

5. Ibid., pp. 188-89.

6. Durand, "Letters on Landscape Painting," The Crayon, 31 January 1855, p. 66.

Exhibition History

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

Terms of Criticism, Addison Gallery of American Art, 00/00/00 - 5/10/1965
Romantic Tendencies in 19th Century Painting, Addison Gallery of American Art, 2/11/1933 - 3/19/1933
A Loan Exhibition of 19th Century Paintings from the Addison Gallery of American, Whitney Museum of American Art, 3/28/1933 - 4/27/1933
A Century of American Landscape Painting, 1800 to 1900, Whitney Museum of American Art, 1/19/1938 - 2/27/1938
Campus Taste in Art [Student Taste in Art], Addison Gallery of American Art, 2/16/1951 - 3/12/1951
Scope in Collecting [25th Anniversary Exhibition], Addison Gallery of American Art, 10/19/1956 - 12/24/1956
Artistic Highlights of American History, Addison Gallery of American Art, 1/10/1958 - 3/23/1958
Living with Design, Addison Gallery of American Art, 10/22/1959 - 10/23/1959
Art in American History, Addison Gallery of American Art, 7/22/1962 - 10/28/1962
Terms of Criticism, Addison Gallery of American Art, 7/26/1963 - 12/23/1963
Terms of Criticism, Addison Gallery of American Art, 7/15/1966 - 10/3/1966
Landscape in Art: Origin and Development, Columbia Museum of Art and Gibbes Planetarium, 1/17/1967 - 2/26/1967
Terms of Criticism, Addison Gallery of American Art, 7/18/1969 - 10/19/1969
The Works, Addison Gallery of American Art, 11/7/1969 - 2/22/1970
The American Scene 1820-1900: An Exhibition of Landscape and Outdoor Genre Held , Indiana University Art Museum, 1/18/1970 - 2/28/1970
A.B. Durand, 1796-1886 [Asher B. Durand], The Montclair Art Museum, 10/24/1971 - 11/28/1971
Near-Looking: A Close-Focus Look at a Basic Thread of American Art, Northern Illinois University Art Gallery, 10/27/1974 - 11/22/1974
Nothing is Certain But Change, Addison Gallery of American Art, 4/18/1975 - 5/18/1975
Andover Garden Club Exhibition, Addison Gallery of American Art, 4/10/1980 - 4/13/1980
Andover Garden Club Exhibition, Addison Gallery of American Art, 11/14/1980 - 11/16/1980
Masterworks of American Art from the Addison Gallery Collection, Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Inc., 10/6/1981 - 10/31/1981
Landscapes from the Permanent Collection, Addison Gallery of American Art, 4/1/1983 - 5/1/1983
Henry David Thoreau as a Source for Artistic Inspiration, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, 6/2/1984 - 9/2/1984
The New Path: Ruskin and the American Pre-Raphaelites, Brooklyn Museum, 3/29/1985 - 9/8/1985
American Paradise: The Rise of the Hudson River School, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 10/4/1987 - 1/3/1988
American Masterworks, Addison Gallery of American Art, 10/5/1990 - 12/16/1990
Point of View: Landscapes from the Addison Collection, Addison Gallery of American Art, 10/16/1992 - 12/20/1992
Masterworks from the Permanent Collection, Addison Gallery of American Art, 1/21/1994 - 4/3/1994
Masterworks from the Permanent Collection, Addison Gallery of American Art, 9/5/1995 - 12/17/1995
Addison Gallery of American Art: 65 Years, Addison Gallery of American Art, 4/13/1996 - 7/31/1996
Masterworks from the Permanent Collection, Addison Gallery of American Art, 2/22/2000 - 3/26/2000
The American Land: Selections from the Addison Collection, Addison Gallery of American Art, 1/19/2001 - 4/8/2001
Place and Perceptions, Addison Gallery of American Art, 4/16/2002 - 7/31/2002
Tracing the Sublime, Addison Gallery of American Art, 12/16/2003 - 3/21/2004
Eye on the Collection: Copley to Hopper, Addison Gallery of American Art, 12/21/2004 - 6/12/2005
Eye on the Collection: West to Hopper, Addison Gallery of American Art, 6/17/2005 - 10/16/2005
The Small Format Landscape, Addison Gallery of American Art, 12/23/2005 - 4/9/2006
Coming of Age: American Art, 1850s to 1950s, American Federation of Arts, 9/9/2006 - 9/7/2009
Inside, Outside, Upstairs, Downstairs: The Addison Anew, Addison Gallery of American Art, 9/7/2010 - 3/27/2011
80 @ 80 , Addison Gallery of American Art, 10/15/2011 - 12/31/2011
Eye on the Collection, Addison Gallery of American Art, 4/27/2013 - 7/31/2013
Natural Selections, Addison Gallery of American Art, 9/14/2013 - 3/16/2014
[Permanent Collection 201-5], Addison Gallery of American Art, 4/12/2014 - 7/31/2014
Exterior Spaces, Interior Places, Addison Gallery of American Art, 9/2/2014 - 1/4/2015
Selections from the Permanent Collection, Addison Gallery of American Art, 9/12/2015 - 3/13/2016
Selections from the Permanent Collection, Addison Gallery of American Art, 4/30/2016 - 7/31/2016
Eye on the Collection, Addison Gallery of American Art, 9/1/2016 - 3/19/2017
Eye on the Collection, Addison Gallery of American Art, 9/1/2017 - 7/31/2018
In and Out of Place , Addison Gallery of American Art, 2/16/2019 - 7/31/2019
A Wildness Distant from Ourselves: Art and Ecology in Nineteenth-Century America, Addison Gallery of American Art, 9/1/2019 - 7/31/2020
Regarding America: 19th Century Art from the Permanent Collection, Addison Gallery of American Art, 4/23/2022 - 7/31/2022

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Addison Gallery of American Art

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Place and Perceptions

Object Information

Exhibition History

Phillips Academy Andover