Summary of American Visions Vol 3 The Wilderness & The West

00:00:00 - 00:50:00

The YouTube video "American Visions Vol 3 The Wilderness & The West" delves into the American perception of nature in the 19th century, viewing it as essential to their identity and a divine testament. Artists such as Thomas Cole depicted the beauty of the wilderness, contrasting controlled settlements with uncontrollable nature. The evolving landscape of America was captured by artists like Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Church, celebrating expansion and nature's abundance. As the Westward expansion continued, artists grappled with the impact on Indigenous peoples and nature, with figures like George Catlin striving for authentic depictions of Native Americans. The myth of the American West was perpetuated by artists like Currier and Ives, painting grandiose landscapes overshadowing the erasure of Native American images. The video concludes by exploring the transition from the wilderness and the West as realities to nostalgic symbols of freedom by the late 1800s, marking the end of an era and the shift towards a new American state of mind.

• 00:00:00 In this section of "American Visions Vol 3 The Wilderness & The West," the speaker explores how Americans in the 19th century viewed nature as a defining aspect of their identity. With no ancient ruins or monuments, they found solace in the natural beauty of America, which they believed was a testament to God's designs. The experience of nature was considered a duty and a right, and those who couldn't personally enjoy it sought art that reminded them of it. The landscape became the national subject and the sign of American identity, with artists like Thomas Cole capturing the beauty of the wilderness in their paintings. The fashion for appreciating nature started in the 1820s, with tourists flocking to places like the Catskill Mountains and the Niagara Falls for a "wilderness experience." However, this experience was no longer about struggling with the wilderness but rather appreciating it aesthetically.
• 00:05:00 In this section of the "American Visions Vol 3 The Wilderness & The West" YouTube video, the focus shifts to the early American landscape paintings that depicted the land as sacred ground. John Cole, an influential artist of the time, is highlighted for his belief in America as the prototype of nature and his deep connection to the Catskills. His work, which included scenes of Italian landscapes and American nature, was a departure from the European scenery he saw as worn out. Cole's vision of America as a spiritual resource was not universally shared, as many Americans saw the land as raw material for development. One of Cole's most famous works, "The Oxbow," is discussed as a representation of the serene and controlled settlements contrasted with the uncontrollable and stormy nature. The video also touches on the modern-day concern for the preservation of the wilderness and the loss of connection to nature.
• 00:10:00 In this section of "American Visions Vol 3 The Wilderness & The West," the conflict between viewing America's natural resources as a cornucopia for exploitation and preserving them as God's creation is explored. Artists like Thomas Cole and Asher Durand depicted this tension, with Cole showing the connection between nature and poetry in "Kindred Spirits." The publication of John James Audubon's "Birds of America" showcased the appreciation for pristine American nature, with Audubon himself embodying the frontiersman spirit. However, the expanding American empire, driven by the belief of Manifest Destiny, threatened the continent's wildlife and indigenous peoples. Art played a significant role in promoting this myth of redemptive violence, with John Gast's painting "American Progress" depicting the goddess of America leading settlers westward, symbolizing the inevitable expansion of the empire.
• 00:15:00 In this section, the video discusses how American artists like Albert Bierstadt and Currier and Ives depicted the westward expansion as a journey of progress and prosperity, enticing settlers with promises of fortune and an American Eden. The legendary figure of Daniel Boone was portrayed as a hero of manifest destiny, leading settlers towards a new land filled with abundance. The artwork symbolized the concept that leaving civilization and embracing the wilderness led to a purification and regeneration of spirit and fortunes. The video also mentions the official commissioning of a mural at the Capitol in Washington, depicting the westward expansion as an exodus towards California, with no opposition from the now-empty wilderness, while also acknowledging the haunting presence of the indigenous populations that suffered due to manifest destiny, as seen in the ongoing sculpture of Crazy Horse in the Black Hills of South Dakota as a retort to Mount Rushmore.
• 00:20:00 In this section of the "American Visions Vol 3 The Wilderness & The West" YouTube video, the discussion revolves around the complex relationship between European artists and the American wilderness and Native Americans. George Catlin, an artist-explorer in the 1830s, is highlighted for his efforts to depict Native Americans as real people rather than idealized "noble savages" or demonized "brutes." However, Catlin also sought to preserve the wilderness and its inhabitants as museum specimens, an ambition not shared by the American government, which forced many tribes into exile and starvation. As the European settlers' encroachment on Native American lands escalated, artists' portrayals of Native Americans shifted from depictions of dignity and reason to expressions of racial anxiety, with lurid paintings of scalping, treachery, and violence. The notion of freezing or preserving the wilderness as a museum exhibit became a common theme among artists, while the American government preferred Native Americans dead or removed from their lands. Frederic Church, a leader of the Hudson River School, built a home on a hill above the Hudson River to survey American nature in all its grandeur. The unique American landscape was considered a sign of the divine by the Hudson River School artists, who believed it to be distinct from European landscapes.
• 00:25:00 In this section of the "American Visions Vol 3 The Wilderness & The West" YouTube video, the focus is on Frederick Church, a devoutly Christian artist who believed in the refinement of the American character through the influence of past civilizations. Church's house and artwork were a three-dimensional representation of his mind, showcasing his deep connection to nature and his belief in the extraordinary qualities of the American continent. His landscapes, such as "The Heart of the Andes," became America's first one-man blockbuster, attracting thousands of viewers and making Church the country's first celebrity artist. Church's work celebrated American expansion and the abundance of nature, with the painter acting as God's stenographer and reconciling science and religion. During the Civil War, Church showed his patriotism by painting "Our Banner in the Sky" and circulating it as a lithograph to Union troops.
• 00:30:00 In this section of "American Visions Vol 3 The Wilderness & The West," the speaker discusses how artists responded to the tumultuous events of the Civil War era through their paintings. Some artists, like Church, used landscapes as allegories for the conflict, depicting catastrophic scenes of volcanic eruptions and the dimming of the sun's light. Others, such as John Kensit, focused on peaceful scenes of the East and the sea, reflecting a sense of eternity and timelessness. The rise of the industrial age and the expansion of railroads brought about a new wave of artists who rode the trains to the West to capture the landscape, with the steam train becoming a symbol of American progress.
• 00:35:00 In this section of "American Visions Vol 3 The Wilderness & The West," the video discusses how artists like Currier and Ives, and later Albert Bierstadt, contributed to the myth of the American West through their paintings. While the railroad engine symbolized progress and enterprise, it also obliterated the images of Native Americans. Artists went west to satisfy the growing curiosity back east, and Bierstadt, an immigrant from Germany, made a career out of grandiose Western landscapes. However, his depictions of Native Americans were invented, and he had plans to place a city in the foreground of his painting, which may eventually find its resting place in an art gallery. The Native American view of nature was vastly different; they saw the land as a part of a great sacred totality, and they paid homage to the living forces that controlled them by adorning themselves with symbols or essences from nature. The railroads built the West and created the myth of the West, and in the case of Yellowstone, they even created new tourist destinations. Artists like Thomas Moran played a crucial role in promoting these new destinations through their paintings, which were underwritten by railroad companies.
• 00:40:00 In this section of the "American Visions Vol 3 The Wilderness & The West" YouTube video, Thomas Moran and William Henry Jackson's collaboration is highlighted. Moran, an artist, and Jackson, a photographer, worked together on documenting the wonders of the American wilderness for the first time. Jackson's photographs confirmed Moran's sketches, and they used their work to persuade Congress to protect Yellowstone and create America's first national park. Moran's painting of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, the first American landscape bought by the government, became a symbol of wilderness tourism and boosted the cash flow of the Northern Pacific Railroad. However, by the 1890s, the popularity of epic landscape painting declined, and artists like Moran and Albert Bierstadt were seen as relics of an outdated mode. Despite this, Moran's painting didn't force the bill through Congress, but it did play a significant role in promoting the idea of preserving wilderness areas. The era of wilderness tourism came to an end as the forests were cut down, the land was mined, and the Buffalo were hunted to extinction as part of government policy.
• 00:45:00 In this section of "American Visions Vol 3 The Wilderness & The West," the speaker discusses how the wilderness and the West in America transitioned from a reality to a nostalgic symbol of freedom by the late 1800s. The myth of the West, particularly the cowboy, was created as an invention of the early 20th century, with artists like Frederick Remington playing a significant role in shaping this image. The idea of the last stand, represented by the infamous battle of Little Bighorn and George Armstrong Custer, became a powerful symbol of the end of the frontier and the defeat of the frontiersman. Despite its brief existence, this myth has remained deeply embedded in American culture.
• 00:50:00 In this section of "American Visions Vol 3 The Wilderness & The West," the closing of the frontier in 1890 marked the end of an era, as Americans began to leave their European heritage behind and create something new. However, this transition was met with anxiety and fear of losing identity due to massive immigration from Europe and Asia. This fear was exemplified by figures like Remington, who advocated for violence against perceived threats to white Anglo-Saxon America. Simultaneously, American art began to shift away from the romanticized depictions of the wilderness and towards realism, skepticism, science, and the power of the machine, signaling the death of the belief in infinite natural resources and the beginning of a new American state of mind.