Hudson River Valley, 1867

This painting was creating by George Inness using oils on canvas and it was created in 1867. This image shows the landscape of the Hudson River valley at the time of the nineteenth century and it is clear to see that its very open land that no one has started to claim and take over. Although, it would appear that there is a herd of cows and so it is likely that people will eventually move there and use the cows for either food, materials or they could use them for milk.

Furthermore, if you look closely into the background it would appear as if there is some kind of building that may suggest that there are native Americans living in that area, although there is only the one construction and so this may imply that there are few Americans there or they are only just settling in that particular area. Moreover, another explanation for this could be European settlers that are moving west to explore different areas of the land and that want to create towns in different regions.

In addition I think this painting gives a positive view of America in the nineteenth century because it is represented as a peaceful and tranquil place, but that doesn't go to say the rest of the country was like this. This image also gives a positive view of America because the colours used are very light and it almost looks as if the sun is shining over this area to show it is a good place to

move to and create a good lifestyle that will suit the European settlers or even the Native Americans.

However, if the same place was painted today then I think it would look completely different because as the century went on more people were going to America and more pleople started moving west as towns and cities were created as well as things such as electricity.