Description
In this dramatic portrayal of the American wilderness, wind and rain ravage the landscape as lightning flashes in the distance. Cropsey's dark colors and roughly handled paint create an ominous tone which emphasizes the overwhelming power of the storm. At the right, an Indian hunter crouches beside a tree and watches helplessly as the stag he just shot tumbles over the waterfall, reinforcing the theme of nature's superiority over man. The artist was a devout follower of Hudson River School founder Thomas Cole, whose poem "Storm in the Catskills" is believed to have inspired this painting. While often criticized for copying Cole's style, Cropsey chose to render a close-up view of this scene, a departure from Cole's more distant, romantic vistas. Cropsey's familiarity with Frederic Church's landscapes is also evident here; notice the similarity between the splintered tree in the foreground and Church's Storm in the Mountains (1969.52; also in this gallery).
Provenance
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Accession Number
1946.494
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
Unframed: 152 x 120.2 cm (59 13/16 x 47 5/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift of the Horace Kelley Art Foundation
Tags
Painting Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Oil Painting Canvas American
Background & Context
Background Story
The Clove (1851) represents Cropsey's engagement with the dramatic weather that was a hallmark of Hudson River School landscape painting. A clove—the Dutch word for a mountain gap or pass—provided a dramatic compositional structure: mountains rising on either side, a valley floor with stream or road, and sky visible through the gap. The Catskill clove was a subject Thomas Cole had painted memorably, and Cropsey's treatment demonstrates both influence and independence. The storm—the painting's declared subject—allows Cropsey to demonstrate his mastery of atmospheric effects: dark clouds gathering, light breaking through, and the dramatic contrast between storm shadow and sunlit area that gives weather paintings their visual excitement. The year 1851 was significant for American landscape painting: the Hudson River School was at its peak of influence and market success, and landscape had become the most popular genre in American art. The Catskills, accessible from New York City by steamboat and railroad, were becoming a tourist destination as well as an artistic subject, and Cropsey's dramatic storm scene would have appealed to both art collectors and the emerging tourist market that wanted souvenirs of scenic destinations.
Cultural Impact
Cropsey's storm paintings influenced how dramatic weather was represented in American landscape art, establishing conventions for storm scenes that influenced later Luminist and Tonalist painters. The paintings influenced tourism for the Catskills, contributing to the region's identity as a destination for experiencing dramatic natural scenery. The Clove subject specifically influenced how mountain gaps and passes were represented in American landscape painting.
Why It Matters
This painting matters because it demonstrates how the Hudson River School combined topographical accuracy with dramatic composition, creating landscapes that were both recognizable records of specific places and emotionally charged artistic statements. The Clove is a real place that Cropsky painted with accuracy, yet the storm transforms it from mere topography into an experience of nature's power—demonstrating that great landscape painting serves both documentary and expressive functions.
