Engraving the Declaration of Independence for John Trumbull in 1823 established Asher Brown Durand as a prominent technician within the American art establishment. This three-year project, completed for a fee of $3,000, anchored a career that transitioned from precise copperplate reproduction to the expansive, landscape-focused oil painting that defined the nineteenth-century Hudson River School.
Early Career in Engraving
Born in 1796 in Maplewood, New Jersey, Durand initially followed the path of an apprentice engraver between 1812 and 1817. His technical proficiency eventually led to a partnership with Charles Cushing Wright, where he managed the firm's New York office. Beyond his work on state documents, he contributed illustrations to the annual gift book The Token and Atlantic Souvenir. His technical skill was so highly regarded that he provided engravings for bank notes and portraits utilized for the initial series of United States postage stamps released in 1847.
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Around 1830, urged by patron Luman Reed, Durand shifted his professional focus to oil painting. His development was influenced by a 1837 sketching expedition to the Adirondacks alongside Thomas Cole. He spent subsequent years creating hundreds of oil sketches and detailed drawings across the Catskills and the White Mountains. These field studies informed his larger compositions, which emphasized realism in the portrayal of natural elements like rock formations, dense foliage, and trees.
Philosophy and Institutional Leadership
Durand served as president of the National Academy of Design from 1845 to 1861, having helped found its predecessor, the New York Drawing Association, in 1825. His aesthetic philosophy, outlined in his essays for The Crayon, advocated for the direct observation of nature as a manifestation of the divine. This ideological stance is reflected in works such as his 1849 painting Kindred Spirits, which features Thomas Cole and William Cullen Bryant within a Catskill landscape, and his 1853 commission Progress, which juxtaposes natural terrain with the development of railroads and telegraph infrastructure.
Fast facts
- Born: 1796, Maplewood
- Died: 1886, Maplewood
- Movement: Hudson River School
- Notable Works: The Capture of Major André, The Hunter
- Professional Organizations: Century Association
- Burial Site: Green-Wood Cemetery
Questions readers ask
What subjects did Durand focus on in his paintings?
He focused on landscape painting, specifically emphasizing the realistic depiction of trees, rocks, and foliage found in the Catskills, Adirondacks, and White Mountains.
What was the significance of the painting Progress?
Commissioned by a railroad executive in 1853, the work illustrates the shift from a natural landscape to an industrialized society featuring canals, railroads, and telegraph wires.
Achievements
- Notable work: The Capture of Major André
- Notable work: The Hunter
- Movement: Hudson River school
