Definitions

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Luminism

A mode of landscape painting that emerged in the work of some Hudson River School painters around the 1860s. Characteristically, these landscapes include soft forms, light colors, and a hazy unifying envelope of light. Works of this sort indicate a mid-century shift in landscape painters' attitude towards the environment. The term itself, now controversial, was not coined until 1954 by John Baur in his essay "American Luminism." So-called luminist works generally evoke a quiet and peaceful contemplation of nature. Sanford Gifford painted in the luminist style, seen in works such as Gorge in the Mountains (Kauterskill Clove) (1862).