Eagle Cliff, New Hampshire 1851

Editor: Jasper Francis Cropsey's "Eagle Cliff, New Hampshire," painted in 1851, is remarkable in its detail. The landscape has a stillness that feels almost melancholic. How do you interpret the significance of this seemingly untouched wilderness in the mid-19th century? Curator: That melancholy is key, and it speaks volumes about the social anxieties of the time. Cropsey, as a member of the Hudson River School, was deeply invested in portraying the American landscape. But consider this: this painting was created during a period of immense upheaval. Rapid industrialization and westward expansion were transforming the nation, often at the expense of marginalized communities and Indigenous populations. Editor: So the landscape isn't just scenery? Curator: Precisely. It's a statement. Paintings like "Eagle Cliff" reflect a longing for a simpler past and simultaneously mask the brutalities enacted on those forced off their ancestral lands, all in the name of progress and Manifest Destiny. The sublime, untouched wilderness becomes a visual trope, obscuring uncomfortable truths. Consider who is absent from this picture. Where are the Indigenous inhabitants of this land? Editor: It’s almost as if this idealized nature is only possible because of the displacement and erasure of others. I hadn't considered the politics embedded within landscape paintings. Curator: That's exactly the point. Art doesn't exist in a vacuum. By examining the historical and social contexts, we can start to unpack the complex narratives embedded within even the most seemingly idyllic scenes. What have you discovered? Editor: The romanticism masks a violent history, offering both an escape and an ideological justification for westward expansion and environmental change.