mid-nineteenth century, the American public became increasingly interested in the far reaches of the continent. Adventurous artists made names for themselves by bringing images of the Rockies, the Sierra Nevadas, andSouth America <javascript:OpenBrWindow(«images/l7.htm»,«l7»,«resizable=yes,width=230,height=230»)> back to East Coast audiences. George Catlin <javascript:OpenBrWindow(«images/l8.htm»,«l8»,«resizable=yes,width=230,height=265»)> built his career on his record of the indigenous people of the Americas. Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran became known for their grandiose landscapes <javascript:OpenBrWindow(«images/l9.htm»,«l9»,«resizable=yes,width=230,height=245»)>; their huge panoramas were meant to approximate the live viewing experience. Moran «s paintings of the American West were instrumental in the establishment of Yellowstone as the first national park in 1872., These grand, monumental landscapes gave way to more intimate, interpretive views. For the new generation, landscape was less a stage for theatrical effects but rather a sounding board for the artist »s personal emotional response. At the turn of the century, Winslow Homer <javascript:OpenBrWindow(«images/l10.htm»,«l10»,«resizable=yes,width=230,height=240»)> specialized in outdoor scenes that captured American rural life. American impressionists <javascript:OpenBrWindow(«images/l11.htm»,«l11»,«resizable=yes,width=230,height=260»)> experimented with rendering the evocative effects of light and atmosphere in landscape. The new aesthetic was characterized by loose brushwork, subtle tonalities, and an interest in conveying mood.after the turn of the century, a group of New York artists rejected picturesque pastoral subjects and focused instead on gritty urban scenes. Although there are some technical similarities to the work of impressionists, theurban landscapes <javascript:OpenBrWindow(«images/l12.htm»,«l12»,«resizable=yes,width=230,height=250»)> of the Ashcan school were intended to document the grim realities of city life and spark social change. The work of Edward Hopper also has an element of social commentary. A realist artist, he painted both urban andrural subjects <javascript:OpenBrWindow(«images/l13.htm»,«l13»,«resizable=yes,width=230,height=245»)>, but throughout there is a dimension of the isolation of American society between the World Wars. The regionalist painters <javascript:OpenBrWindow(«images/l14.htm»,«l14»,«resizable=yes,width=230,height=250»)>, a group of artists working primarily in the Midwest during the 1930s, had a different tone but similar goals. They were interested in uniquely American activities and places, which for them meant glorifying the labor and lifestyle of rural regions.artists of the twentieth century approached landscape with a variety of strategies. The Armory Show of 1913 brought t...
