Jasper Francis Cropsey, Mount Jefferson, Pinkham Notch, White Mountains

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Cropsey, Mount Jefferson

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Question 1

What is the connection between the situation referred to as Bleeding Kansas and the landscape of the White Mountains in New Hampshire?

A	The violence of Bleeding Kansas was a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked development and depletion of the resource-rich landscape of the nation, as symbolized in the timber-filled valley surrounding the White Mountains.
B	There is no connection between these two things other than the fact that they both were the subject of artistic interest in the 1850s.
C	Both the events of Bleeding Kansas and the symbolism of the timber-filled White Mountains reflected the tensions in the 1850s about how the American landscape would be settled and thus reflect national identity and values.
D	The abolitionists that attempted to settle Kansas as a free state came from the area around the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Question 2

What is the symbolism of the blasted tree encircled by black birds in the foreground?

A	It serves as a bad omen, cautioning Cropsey’s fellow Americans to preserve the forests and natural abundance of the nation’s landscapes at all costs.
B	It is likely a biblical reference to God’s protection of the prophet Elijah, here re-interpreted as God providing for the American republic through the nation’s abundance of natural resources.
C	It is a reminder that if the natural resources, such as the timber of this forest, are not used to supply farms and burgeoning industries, God will take the resources from us (in this case, through fire and decay).
D	It predicts the destruction that will be wrought by the Civil War and conveys Cropsey’s lack of hope for the American republic.

Question 3

What advice from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1836 book, Nature, is reflected in landscape paintings like this one?

A	Emerson advised artists, writers, politicians, clergymen, and others who influence public opinion to encourage Americans to actively exploit the nation’s abundant natural resources to advance industrial and urban growth.
B	Emerson advised American artists, writers, politicians, clergymen, and others who influence public opinion to encourage a rejection of the benefits of experiences in nature.
C	Emerson advised artists, writers, and intellectuals to seek inspiration through immersive experiences in the natural world but never to do so alone.
D	Emerson advised Americans to employ the rich and varied nature of the nation’s landscape as a metaphor for the greatness of the United States, especially in comparison to Europe.

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Key points

Jasper Francis Cropsey painted this autumnal scene of the White Mountains of New Hampshire at a time when the United States’ identity and future were being fiercely debated. In the years just prior to the American Civil War, issues such as westward expansion and the legality of slavery strongly divided voters.
The landscape of the United States was deeply entwined with these issues, both as a symbol for the nation’s unique identity–as distinct from Europe–and as a specific topic of debate. Thomas Jefferson’s idea of the United States as an agrarian republic, supported largely by small farms and industries that drew on the nation’s rich and varied natural resources, was being tested in the wake of mid-19th century tensions around the addition of new territories and states as the boundaries of the country moved further west. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1836 book, Nature, also had a strong influence on the ways artists, writers, clergy, politicians, and others who helped to shape popular opinion thought about the role of a rural way of life, and of nature itself, in defining national identity.
In his painting, Cropsey cleverly used the symbolism of the landscape to convey a sense of hope for the republic in the face of the tensions of the time. The contrast of the brilliantly colored autumn leaves and the blasted tree in the foreground with the lush, summer greenery carpeting Mount Washington reminded viewers that the nation had entered a new season, metaphorically, and that challenges lay ahead. The lumber mill positioned in a timber-filled landscape, however, symbolizes the promise of the burgeoning nation to literally construct a thriving republic in this land of abundance.

Go deeper

Learn more about Jasper Francis Cropsey from the National Gallery of Art.

Compare Cropsey’s symbolic use of landscape to convey his hopes for the American republic in 1857 with that of Frederick Edwin Church from 1852.

Consider Cropsey’s painting alongside other artworks that reflect the imagining of the West, territorial expansion, and the politics of slavery in the years leading up to the United States Civil War.

Learn more about White Mountains history and culture from the U.S. Forest Service.

More to think about

To our modern eyes, the degree of symbolism embedded in 19th century landscape painting might seem far-fetched. Cropsey’s painting may simply read to us as a beautiful fall scene, richly observed and recorded. However, today we too associate the values and ideals of our personal, cultural, and national identities with elements of the natural world. What are some of these modern associations and how do they contrast with those in Cropsey’s painting?