Asher B. Durand's Kindred Spirits

Thomas Burch

Professor Katherine Stelmach

Humanities 201

October 27, 2015

Nature

Every part of nature has a purpose in this world, but it is up to the human eye to recognize that. More often than not, people only place value, simply on things that are accessible or in reach of them. But neither technology nor science can play a part, but nature; nature contains the keys to human life and existence in our world universe. A popular painting known as Kindred Spirits along with a written work by Ralph Emerson both express their thoughts on a humans place within the natural world.

Asher B. Durand’s painting, Kindred Spirits (1849), portrays American artist Thomas Cole alongside American poet William Cullen Bryant. Durand was a well-known subject

“The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence. Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection.” Emerson utilizes the stars in the sky as an emblem of the universe, and explains how humans take them for granted because no matter where you are in this world, they are visible, but not looked up to. Emerson speaks about the way which people distinguish things around them. For example, he questions the importance of how we similarly view things such as stars, the landscape and the poet. These three matters have a strong correlation, seeing that just as no one will take the time to admire the stars, it is not particularly often you see someone appreciating the nature surrounding them. “To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature.” Throughout this chapter, he uses similes and metaphors in attempt to urge people to appreciate everything as a whole and not as individual items. “In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature.” Both man and nature hold beauty, but only one holds the reason for human

In two different explanations, they both state how the beauty and exoticness of nature is often times over looked. People do not realize the value that nature holds and the role that it plays in our lives. Basically, nature supports our existence and every little aspect of it (trees, stars, mountains, sun, air, water, etc.) works together to improve mankind daily. Actions such as deforestation and littering are examples of the way people view American nature today. The value is no longer respected, but what can be built in place of it, is. After all, it has turned out to be a material