Landscape, Wood Scene (Sketch in the Woods)

This painting of the Catskill Mountains is one of several oil studies Asher B. Durand made in advance of the painting In the Woods (1855, Metropolitan Museum of Art). Durand is a major figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters and was renowned for his detailed portrayals of nature, which he imbued with as much realism as possible. In this carefully composed study, the artist expresses his view of nature as an embodiment of God, conveying the cycle of life through the coexistence of the lush living forest and decaying trees.