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American Centuries > Lessons > History Lessons By Teachers > Two Schools of Thought: Hudson River vs. Ashcan Schools

Two Schools of Thought: Hudson River vs. Ashcan Schools

Details

Author
Mark Baldwin
Topic/Subject Area
Art, Music, Literature, Crafts
Historical Era
National Expansion and Reform, 1816–1860, Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877, Rise of Industrial America, 1878–1899, Progressive Era, World War I, 1900–1928
Grade Level
High School (9–12)
Creation Date
2011
Last Revision Date
2024

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About This Lesson

Summary and Objective

Students will understand that Landscape Painting can be both rural and urban. Students will also understand that art is a lens through which different eras in history can be viewed. This lesson is designed to expose students to two uniquely American perspectives in Romantic and Realistic art. The Hudson River School is the first truly American artistic movement and exemplifies the American romanticism of the first half of the 19th century. As the triple forces of industrialization, urbanization, and immigration fundamentally changed America in the last half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Ashcan School of art reflected those changes in a gritty, realistic style.

Materials & Resources

Collection Items
Websites

Teaching Plan

  1. Warm-up: compare and contrast two untitled images: Thomas Cole’s The Oxbow, and Logging at the Oxbow on the Connecticut River near Holyoke, Mass. Students will hypothesize about: where the scenes are, the time periods each painting represents, what types of changes have occurred in the country. After sharing student responses, the time periods and locations will be revealed. The concept of LANDSCAPE will be introduced. Students will briefly brainstorm what a landscape is.
  2. Students will view 2 or 3 Hudson River School landscape paintings: Thomas Cole’s  At Home in the Woods, 1847, Asher Durand’s Plains of Dutchess County, 1848, Study of a Wood Interior, 1855, or Catskill Clove, 1864. Students will hypothesize about the time period the paintings represent, and identify any similarities in style and subject matter. Students will try to determine the message of the paintings and what the painters hoped to achieve with their work.
  3. A brief overview of the Hudson River School will be presented (handout, online overview, and/or brief lecture). Student responses about the paintings will be compared to the goals of the Hudson River artists.
  4. Students will then examine 2 – 4 untitled and undated Ashcan School paintings: John Sloan’s Pigeons, 1910, or A Woman’s Work, 1912, George Luks’ Hester Street, 1905, George Bellows’ Excavations at Night, 1908, or Robert Henri’s Snow in New York, 1902. Students will hypothesize about the time period the paintings represent, and identify any similarities in style and subject matter. Students will be asked to pay particular attention to color schemes and the mood projected in the paintings. Students will try to determine the message of the paintings and what the painters hoped to achieve with their work.
  5. A brief overview of the Ashcan School will be presented (handout, online overview, and/or brief lecture). Student responses about the paintings will be compared to the goals of the Ashcan School artists.
  6. The concept of LANDSCAPE as rural and urban will be re-emphasized. Students will respond to these capstone questions: Which artistic school’s landscapes BEST represented their time periods? (personal preference) Which school of art did students like best, and why? (personal preference).
  7. Extension activity: on their own, students can research individual artists in the Hudson River or Ashcan Schools either as homework or writing/presentation assignments.