American Landscape

Aaron Draper Shattuck strikes a delicate balance between human presence—the bridges, fences, nestled steeples, and rustic roads—and the lush landscape surrounding them. While the previous generation of Hudson River School painters often focused on dramatic views in exotic landscapes, Shattuck and his contemporaries devoted themselves to the transcendent potential of daily activities. He seldom left the familiar confines of the Hudson Valley, yet the rural nostalgia, finely observed details, and wide proportions of this painting reveal his awareness of Aestheticism and the avant-garde potential of landscape.