Hudson River School: In Their Own Words

"We are still in Eden; the wall that shuts us out of the garden is our own ignorance and folly."

"The most distinctive, and perhaps the most impressive, characteristic of American scenery is its wildness."

"The Hudson for natural magnificence is unsurpassed."

"The Catskills ... heave from the valley of the Hudson like the subsiding billows of the ocean after a storm."

"The beauty of such landscapes are quickly passing away - the ravages of the axe are daily increasing."

"Go first to Nature to learn to paint landscape, and when you shall have learnt to imitate her, you may then study the pictures of great artists."