DURAND, Asher Brown
(b. 1796, Springfield Township, d. 1886, Maplewood)

A Stream in the Wood

1865
Oil on canvas, 102 x 82 cm
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

A Stream in the Wood is also typical of Durand's subject matter, as most of his paintings depict woods. He almost invariably uses the same compositional format, comprising a few trees in the foreground, an empty middle area, and beyond these a luminous sky which casts light on the valley. Durand's paintings show nature in its wild state, without any sign of human presence, and glorify American nature as a new Eden.