Period and Culture

The first painting is titled "Kindred Spirits" painted by Asher Brown Durand. The second is a sketch by Rembrandt van Rijn titled "Seated Old Man." Both works of art show major examples of period and culture. Period is a phase in the development of the work of an artist, groups of artists or art movement. Culture generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. Asher Brown Durand's "Kindred Spirits" was created in the 1800s while "Seated Old Man" by Rembrandt was created in the 1600s.

"Kindred Spirits" was created in the 19th century during the Modern World period. During this period modernty reflected the emergence of a new kind of society in the wake of the French Revolution, the American Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution. Driven by technological progress and characterized by rapid change, the 19th century gave birth to our industrialized middle-classed culture. Asher Brown Durand's culture (Hudson River School) was built on painting the "American Landscape." The importance of the Hudson River School waned after the Civil War and its leading practitioners looked to the exotic beauty of foreign lands for inspiration.

"Seated Old Man" by Rembrandt was created in the 17th cenury in which the period of Renaissance an Romanticism emerged. Within this period it was a Renaissance in the sense of a flowering, excitement over human possibilities, and a high regard for individual ego. Their inability to resolve this struggle--and it was even more a personal one than a nationalistic one, for it questioned their identity and place in society--did much to fire them creatively. However, we will call this American romanticism, an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 17th century and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions. These are some significant background information for the two art works on periods and culture.