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Painters of Faith
From the beginning, American culture was steeped in the language of theology. The arts, in particular, were inextricably linked with religion.
As author Gene Edward Veith shows in Painters of Faith , belief in the spiritual power of art provided the basis for America’s first major artistic movement, the Hudson River School. The personal faith of Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand, Jasper Cropsey, Frederic Church, and the other Hudson River School painters inspired their transcendent landscapes.
In this fascinating and beautifully illustrated work, Veith explores that faith and the crucial role it played in their artistic creations. Aesthetics, he shows, could not be separated from theology. In reconstructing the worldview of the artists as well as of much of the American public in the nineteenth century, Veith delves into the writings of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and the American Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards to find the roots of a Protestant aesthetic.
While Protestantism is not ordinarily associated with a strong artistic tradition, Veith reveals how Protestant Christianity in nineteenth-century America was indeed a catalyst for the arts. In fact, the clergy were among the most ardent promoters of the arts in the new republic, and theological journals continually carried on discussions about art. The Hudson River School artists, in particular, expressed ambitious themes, employing narrative, symbolism, and allegory to convey moral and spiritual truths.
Complete with forty-two full-color illustrations, Painters of Faith is an in-depth examination of the artistic and theological context in which these painters worked—and a gripping look at the cultural development of early America.
As author Gene Edward Veith shows in Painters of Faith , belief in the spiritual power of art provided the basis for America’s first major artistic movement, the Hudson River School. The personal faith of Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand, Jasper Cropsey, Frederic Church, and the other Hudson River School painters inspired their transcendent landscapes.
In this fascinating and beautifully illustrated work, Veith explores that faith and the crucial role it played in their artistic creations. Aesthetics, he shows, could not be separated from theology. In reconstructing the worldview of the artists as well as of much of the American public in the nineteenth century, Veith delves into the writings of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and the American Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards to find the roots of a Protestant aesthetic.
While Protestantism is not ordinarily associated with a strong artistic tradition, Veith reveals how Protestant Christianity in nineteenth-century America was indeed a catalyst for the arts. In fact, the clergy were among the most ardent promoters of the arts in the new republic, and theological journals continually carried on discussions about art. The Hudson River School artists, in particular, expressed ambitious themes, employing narrative, symbolism, and allegory to convey moral and spiritual truths.
Complete with forty-two full-color illustrations, Painters of Faith is an in-depth examination of the artistic and theological context in which these painters worked—and a gripping look at the cultural development of early America.
- GenresArt
208 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2001
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About the author
Gene Edward Veith Jr.
45 books185 followersGene Edward Veith Jr., is the Culture Editor of WORLD MAGAZINE. He was formerly Professor of English at Concordia University Wisconsin, where he has also served as Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences. He is the author of numerous books, including Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture, The Spirituality of the Cross: The Way of the First Evangelicals, and God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life.
Postmodern Times received a Christianity Today Book Award as one of the top 25 religious books of 1994. He was named Concordia's Adult Learning Teacher of the Year in 1993 and received the Faculty Laureate Award as outstanding faculty member in 1994. He was a Salvatori Fellow with the Heritage Foundation in 1994-1995 and is a Senior Fellow with the Capital Research Center. He was given the layman’s 2002 Robert D. Preus Award by the Association of Confessional Lutherans as “Confessional Lutheran of the Year.”
Dr. Veith was born in Oklahoma in 1951. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1973 and received a Ph.D. in English from the University of Kansas in 1979. He has taught at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College and was a Visiting Professor at Wheaton College in Illinois. He was also a Visiting Lecturer at the Estonian Institute of Humanities in Tallinn, Estonia. He and his wife Jackquelyn have three grown children and live in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
Postmodern Times received a Christianity Today Book Award as one of the top 25 religious books of 1994. He was named Concordia's Adult Learning Teacher of the Year in 1993 and received the Faculty Laureate Award as outstanding faculty member in 1994. He was a Salvatori Fellow with the Heritage Foundation in 1994-1995 and is a Senior Fellow with the Capital Research Center. He was given the layman’s 2002 Robert D. Preus Award by the Association of Confessional Lutherans as “Confessional Lutheran of the Year.”
Dr. Veith was born in Oklahoma in 1951. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1973 and received a Ph.D. in English from the University of Kansas in 1979. He has taught at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College and was a Visiting Professor at Wheaton College in Illinois. He was also a Visiting Lecturer at the Estonian Institute of Humanities in Tallinn, Estonia. He and his wife Jackquelyn have three grown children and live in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 10, 2018
This book covers the worldview of the Hudson River Painters, most of which, at the least were Calvinist, and a few strongly Reformed. But all were informed by Reformation theology, drawing on ideas of art from Luther, Calvin, and especially Edwards. The theology was imbued in their art. Two examples shall suffice to illustrate this:
The Hudson paintings contained lots of sunrises and sunsets and the light they used illuminated the entire landscape. But what they did is to have their landscapes so vast, and combined with the light from the sky, they practically obscured any horizon line to symbolize God’s transcendence. Humans were usually depicted infrequently, and if so, they were tiny compared to the landscape, a two fold recognition of man also as part of creation, and in contrast to the humanists, who put man at the center of all their paintings.
The second example is that the Hudson painters would use or illustrate Law and Gospel in their paintings, either by subject matter (a flood, or a rainbow) or by using light and dark, storms and calm, inside the same painting. They always attempted to say something about God or had a moral theme. The Hudson paintings always “taught” something.
Even if you don’t paint or photograph, I think the “theology imbued into art” has relevance on how art should contain the true, the good, and the beautiful while glorifying God and teaching us something good, instead of being merely a pretty work of art or a tool for political ideology.
The Hudson paintings contained lots of sunrises and sunsets and the light they used illuminated the entire landscape. But what they did is to have their landscapes so vast, and combined with the light from the sky, they practically obscured any horizon line to symbolize God’s transcendence. Humans were usually depicted infrequently, and if so, they were tiny compared to the landscape, a two fold recognition of man also as part of creation, and in contrast to the humanists, who put man at the center of all their paintings.
The second example is that the Hudson painters would use or illustrate Law and Gospel in their paintings, either by subject matter (a flood, or a rainbow) or by using light and dark, storms and calm, inside the same painting. They always attempted to say something about God or had a moral theme. The Hudson paintings always “taught” something.
Even if you don’t paint or photograph, I think the “theology imbued into art” has relevance on how art should contain the true, the good, and the beautiful while glorifying God and teaching us something good, instead of being merely a pretty work of art or a tool for political ideology.
November 10, 2024
Een prachtig geïllustreerd boek dat overtuigend laat zien hoe kunst en religie met elkaar verbonden zijn in (vroeg) negentiende eeuws Amerika. Het toont aan dat niet de Romantiek maar (een vorm van) het Protestantisme van grote invloed was op de vroege Hudson River School.
July 17, 2018
A book about the Hudson River School painters in the United States. Lovely book. Amazing art and beautiful essays about their role, motivations, place, and importance in art and American history.
September 17, 2009
Prior to reading this book I had tended to dismiss the Hudson River School as a rather overly sentimental and even kitschy movement. Turns out there actually was quite a bit of spiritual and artistic depth there, as Mr. Veith helped me to appreciate.
June 1, 2011
Hudson River School.Beautiful and interesting copy.
February 20, 2017
This was an interesting and good introduction to the Hudson River School of artists. I enjoyed learning the philosophy behind their art.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews