



Transcendentalism first arose among liberal New England
Congregationalists who were seeking a departure from
Calvinism, and the bleak Puritan belief that inner human depravity is ultimately inescapable
Many ideals of transcendentalism parallel closely with both predecessors German romanticism and Buddhism
Early transcendentalists believed steadfastly in the importance of human striving and pursuing a logic-based life, rejecting organized religion, pre-destination, and
“damnation”
Begins to take flight in Concord, New England in the 1830’s






Transcendentalism revolved around a passionate spiritual and intellectual idealism within man
High regard was given to the concerns of “the individual”, and his personal quest for spiritual awakening; man must be self-directed along these travels
Institutions that hinder human spirit and potential must be thoroughly rejected; many transcendentalists were abolitionists
Nature is an eternal entity; it belongs to no one, but it is there for everyone. The natural world is a reflection of
God’s divinity, a place of worship in itself
Transcendentalists rejected modern society, claiming its values and morals to be corrupt



Ralph Waldo Emerson:
Born May 25 th , 1803, in the largely Puritan town of
Boston, MA
 Became close with several female family members who influenced his intellectual growth after the early death of his father
 Kept various journals throughout his youth, documenting his observations



Graduated from Harvard College in 1821
After beginning Harvard Divinity School in 1825, Emerson began explicitly questioning religion; this was intensified after the death of his wife, Ellen Louisa Tucker
After Tucker’s death, married Lydia Jackson; settled in Concord, MA and raised children




Emerson’s Nature, a book of passionate essays that reflect themes of self-awareness, spiritual transience, and the pivotal beauty of the natural world, was published in 1836
Emerson became a voice for those seeking inner fulfillment and liberation from religious overbear
Even after his death in 1882, Emerson’s legacy continued(s) to shine on









Henry David Thoreau
Born in 1817, in Concord, MA
An academic prodigy from an early age, Thoreau journeyed onward to Harvard, enrolling at the tender age of 16
A lifelong friend of Emerson’s
Started a tiny progressive school; the institution terminated after the death of his brother, John
Emerson encouraged Thoreau to keep lengthy journals documenting his various passions and great intellectual promise
Lived in periods of solitude on a piece of land owned by Emerson; built a cabin, planted a garden, practiced meditation
Dies in 1862 at the young age of 44







Artist from the school painted both landscapes and allegories.
The Hudson River School was America's first true artistic fraternity.
Its name was created to identify a group of
New York City-based landscape painters that emerged about 1850 under the influence of
Thomas Cole and flourished until about the time of the Centennial.

•
•
•
•

 Cole is regarded as the "father" or "founder" of the school. He was the teacher of Frederic
Edwin Church.
Major Artist of the school:
Thomas Cole
Frederic Edwin Church
Albert Bierstadt
Jasper Francis Cropsey




The school was forgotten by the time Church and Bierstadt died.
Declined after the Civil War when the art style started to change.
Painting altered with the influence of the softer, more intimate French Barbizon style first adapted to American scenery by George
Inness.







Born: July 26, 1796, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Died: December 23, 1872, Jersey City, New Jersey.
He was a painter of American Indian Culture
Catlin resolved to use his art "in rescuing from oblivion the looks and customs of the vanishing races of native man in America."
Between 1832 and 1836, he made a series of trips into
Indian territory up the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers resulting in over 600 paintings of Indian portraits, landscapes, ceremonies, and daily rituals.
Catlin titled the collection his "Indian Gallery" which was exhibited in major cities on the East Coast.






John James Audubon (1785 - 1851) was born in Les Cayes,
Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), and died in New York City.
Audubon spent more than a decade in business, eventually traveling down the Ohio River to western
Kentucky - then the frontier.
He drew birds as a hobby.
“With no other prospects, Audubon set off on his epic quest to depict America's avifauna, with nothing but his gun, artist's materials, and a young assistant. Floating down the Mississippi, he lived a rugged hand-to-mouth existence in the South”.
Twenty-two of the original 435 Havell plates represent birds Audubon observed and painted in Florida in 1831 -
1832.






George Caleb Bingham was born on March 20, 1811, in Augusta
County, Virginia.
Died on July 7, 1879, in Kansas City.
George Caleb Bingham was a Missouri artist and politician. During his lifetime, he was known as “the Missouri Artist.”
Growing up along the Missouri River, Bingham had vivid mental pictures of life on the river.
“ Bingham had strong beliefs about democracy and politics in
America. He often used his artistic skills to portray his political views, and some of his political paintings are some of his most important compositions. As early as 1840, Bingham sketched and painted artful political banners for his political party, the Whigs.
During his career, he also painted notable political figures such as
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, John
Quincy Adams, and Senator Thomas Hart Benton”.

 "Hudson River School." Met Musem. Web. 21 Nov. 2011.
<www.metmusem.org>.
 "Transendentalism." Web. 21 Nov. 2011.
<standford.edu/entries/transendentalism>.
 Veith, Gene E. Painters of Faith. Washington
D.C: Regnery, 2001. Print.
 Koster, Donald N. Transcendentalism in America. New England:
G.K Hall and, 1975.
 Barbour, Brian M., ed. American Transcendentalism An Anthology of
Criticism. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame, 1973.
Print.

 Kaplan, Nathaniel, and Thomas Katsaros. Origins of American
Transcendentalism In Philosphy and Mysticism. New Haven, Conn:
College & UP, 1975. Print.
 Audubon, John J. Delineations of American Scenery and Character.
London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent &, 1926. Print.
 Tyler, Ron. Audubon's Great National Work. Austin, Texas: Universit of Texas, 1993. Print
 Shapiro, Michael E., Barbara Groseclose, Elizabeth Johns, Paul C.
Nagel, and John Wilmerding. George Caleb Bingham. New York:
Saint Louis Art Museum in Association with Harry N. Abrams,
1990. Print.