Thomas Cole – founder of the Hudson River School – once stated, “Must I tell you that neither the Alps nor the Appenines, no, nor even Aetna itself, have dimmed, in my eyes, the beauty of our own Catskills? It seems to me that I look on American scenery, if it were possible, with increased pleasure. It has its own peculiar charm – a something not found elsewhere. I am content with nature: would that I were with art!” (Notable Hudson River Quotes). This quote was part of this movement that began in the mid-19th century and was focused on painting the American landscape, specifically along the Hudson River. Many of these earlier painters – Thomas Doughty, Asher Durand, and Thomas Cole – were Calvinists and thus their beliefs wound themselves
