American Sublime and Romanticism
I was drawn to the sublime of this painting – What a breathtaking view of America. It is amazing to be able to have the ability to almost see what our ancestors saw over 200 years ago in this great land. Even though I have travelled through much of the country, I am amazed at the brilliance, vibrance, and life that a painting can portray of my homeland. I guess that telephone poles, billboards, and skyscrapers of my American could spoil an image so great as this….but I like to pretend that I still live in this land below.
(Thomas Cole, Landscape Scene from the Last of the Mohicans. 1827. Oil on canvas. New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown, NY)
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If “America” is a cluster of attitudes involving desire for a better future, nostalgia for a lost past, impatience with inherited forms, anxiety from relentless change, conflicted disdain for industrial (& virtual) society, sentimentality for nature and youth, and the domination of all by the individual —so is “Romanticism.” |
| If “Romanticism” involves a story of breaking barriers or crossing boundaries, idealization of unattainable purity, gothic mingling of love and death, the tortured vanity of the family romance, the gorgeous outrage of free verse, the terror and beauty of the sublime, the yearning for the long ago and far away but never the here and now —so does “America.” |
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on February 12th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
I like your Whitman quote. He pretty much sums up what Romanticism is.
on February 12th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
Amy, that picture you posted is an excellant example of Romanticism. It is nice to know that in our own dear country we have such beautiful landscapes. I enjoyed reading your blogg.
on February 17th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Perfect painting for romanticism. Especially with the people so tiny in the overall perspective. Being the “Last of the Mohicans” makes it perhaps all the more poignant.
I enjoyed your quotes, too.