Sketchbook of White Mountains and Hudson River Subjects 1827 - 1908

This is a page from David Johnson’s “Sketchbook of White Mountains and Hudson River Subjects,” its creation mired in the landscape and society of 19th-century America. Johnson was part of the Hudson River School, a group that romanticized the American landscape. But these weren't neutral depictions. They occurred during the time of Manifest Destiny, the belief that white Americans were destined to expand across the continent, dispossessing Native peoples. These landscapes often elided the presence, history, and rights of Indigenous populations, contributing to a narrative of empty, pristine wilderness awaiting white settlement. Johnson’s delicate rendering of mountains, trees, and water invites us to consider what is present, but also what has been erased or misrepresented. How does this quiet, unassuming sketch participate in a broader, more complex cultural narrative?