In the Shade of the Pine

Artists, Writers, and Trees in America, 1825-1876

Christiana Payne

• Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9781682262887
• eBook ISBN:
  9781610758512
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art General

In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the importance of trees both as allies in the fight against climate change and as sources of emotional well-being. In nineteenth-century America, against a backdrop of accelerating deforestation much like today's, writers and artists found emotional solace and symbolic meaning in the woods, identifying trees as a civic and spiritual good in need of preservation.

In the Shade of the Pine: Artists, Writers, and Trees in America, 1825–1876 explores the significance of trees in the visual and literary imagination of mid-nineteenth-century America through the work of seven artists and writers: Thomas Cole's explorations of the Catskills; Albert Bierstadt's portrayal of the splendid trees of California, including the ancient giant sequoias; the paintings and drawings of Asher Brown Durand and Frederic Edwin Church; the photographs of William James Stillman; and the environmental writings of Susan Fenimore Cooper and Henry David Thoreau.

This richly illustrated volume shows the unique influence the ecology of their land had on the emotional and intellectual landscapes of a generation. In their careful study of the woods—the beauty of trees, their practical importance to human beings and other living creatures, and the power of the forest to confer spiritual and emotional benefits—these artists and writers laid the groundwork for an ecological consciousness that remains vitally relevant today.
 

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Kindred Spirits
• One. American Trees
• Two. Thomas Cole: Lament for the Forest
• Three. Susan Fenimore Cooper: A Social Vision
• Four. Asher Brown Durand: Cathedrals of Nature
• Five. Frederic Edwin Church and the Symbolism of Trees
• Six. Henry David Thoreau: Painting Trees with Words
• Seven. William James Stillman: The Lure of the Wilderness
• Eight. Albert Bierstadt and the Big Trees of California
• Afterword: Resilience and Survival
• Notes
• Selected Bibliography
• Index