Asher B. Durand
American, 1796 – 1886
View in the Valley of Oberhasle, Switzerland, 1842
Oil on canvas
32 x 45 inches
Museum Purchase
1986.1.3

This majestic landscape is one of four paintings that Asher B. Durand painted after a trip to Switzerland in 1840. Like other members of the Hudson River School of artists, Durand was inspired by the work of Claude Lorraine (c. 1600 – 1682), whose poetic rendering of light playing across idyllic scenes is echoed in this work. Durand's other three Alpine paintings have been unlocated since the nineteenth century, and it has previously been unclear which title matches this canvas. Two sketches by Durand in the collection of the New-York Historical Society relate to this painting: On the Descent of the Susten Pass and Valley of Oberhasel. Both are dated October 10, 1840, but the latter sketch matches the painting almost exactly, with the minor absence of the tree at the left.

Asher B. Durand was a prominent figure in the New York art community, and served as president the National Academy of Design from 1845 to 1861. He was influenced by and worked alongside Thomas Cole, the founder of the Hudson River School. This group of artists sought to create a distinctly national style of painting incorporating highly detailed studies of nature into an idealized composition, emphasizing the smallness of human presence amidst the glory of divine creation. Durand wrote: "The true province of landscape art is the work of God in the visible creation, independent of man."