An
American painter of the Hudson River School, Durand often painted scenes of his
native New England. A champion of the realistic style, he contemplated God in
nature and endeavored to faithfully depict the beauty of creation. In Kindred Spirits he portrays the
friendship of fellow artist Thomas Cole and poet William Cullen Bryant in a
landscape of the Catskill Mountains. As Bryant gestures to the majestic sight
before him, Durand invites the viewer to take in the scene. Amidst the
overhanging leaves and tangle of branches below, one can almost hear the gentle
babbling of the brook.
“The external
appearance of this our dwelling place, apart from its wondrous structure and
functions that minister to our well-being, is fraught with lessons of high and
holy meaning, only surpassed by the light of Revelation.” -Asher Brown Durand
