Fall is a good time to go out and look for "Cropsey Red." Not just any red leaves, but the red that clings to the trunk resulting from vines that turn red and result in red structural center in a fall tree.

Fall was also a good time for a drive to the National Gallery to view not only trees on the way, but to get another look at a large painting by Jasper Francis Cropsey, "Autumn-- On the Hudson River."

Painted in 1860, the magnitude of the work might cause it to be confused with a Bierstadt, and the seemingly typical nature of the landscape might be passed by without providing much inspiration on the beauty of the scenery. A closer look will reveal the work is actually telling the story of the European settlement of the "new world."

Follow the scene from right to left and you'll see what I mean. Let your eye wonder down the path toward the town and into the sunrise. It also attempts to show man as neither subservient or a conquerer of nature. Its this balance thats so important to try to meet today as nature more often strikes back violently against mans abuse.

Leaving Washington and driving up Interstate 95 towards Philadelphia I observed miles of cars waiting at a toll booth, spewing carbon dioxide and thousands of engines idled. This seemed a waste, both in terms of time and economics, but also in terms of the harm done to the planet. Couldn't each car be affixed with a magnetic strip as part of the inspection process so they could at least keep moving through the tollgate?

The Hudson River Valley certainly still has its charms, but for now it would seem man has taken the position as a conquerer of nature. Cropsey's scene almost seems naieve, perhaps not unlike Edward Hicks when he painted babies sitting beside wildcats--in peace.

There is an important place in our world for these idealistic sentiments, however. It reminds me of the criticism of Jefferson for owning slaves and writing that "all men are created equal," a fault no doubt, but a notion of considerable value and one that future generations could strive towards. It was problematic for Jefferson to live up to his ideals, and more importantly problematic for the future society to reconcile itself with these ideals.

Perhaps paintings like Cropsey's Autumn on the Hudson River can be viewed today in a similar way. How can we reconcile our practices with our ideals? How can we make sure the story our lives tell live up to this notion of a peaceful co-existence with nature?

An example of Cropsey Red in the DeYoung

Looking through old Pittsburgh newspapers on microfilm I came across an ad for a portrait painter named James Lambdin. I had never heard of Lambdin, but the mention of his being a pupil of Thomas Sully in the ad caught my attention. I should have just Googled images, but not ever hearing of Lambdin I mistakenly assumed he was an artist lost to history. I headed to the census records at the library and on my way to the third floor decided to stop and search the auction records as well as catolog for books about Sully, which I hoped would mention Lambdin.

Both produced results that were suprisingly fruitful to me. I didn't need to search census records to see when Lambdin moved to Pittsburgh--he was born here in 1807. I guess amateur historians like myself mistakenly assume most of the people and things, at least as they relate to a European cultural tradition, in early Pittsburgh came from Baltimore or Philadelphia. The newspaper ad was from 1824, not long before Lambdin left Pittsburgh. Lambdin headed South for Louisville and then trading time between Pittsburgh and Mobile, Alabama.

Lambdin then moved to Philadelphia (which may have had more imports like Lambdin from Pittsburgh than we often assume) where he spent most of the remainder of his life.

Its curious that Lambdin studied in Philadelphia under Thomas Sully from 1823-25 and yet placed the ad in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1824. Also his son, George Cochran Lambdin, also a noted artist, was born in Pittsburgh in 1830. Lambdin traveled to Washington and painted many portraits including presidents. he was a professor of fine arts at the University of Pennsylvania and an officer at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

William Russell Smith was a student of Lambdin.

Apparently the Carnegie Museum of Art has two works by James Lambdin, a portrait of Henry Clay and one of Benjamin Darlington. I am not sure whether these works are not on display or I have failed to notice them.