Asher B. Durand

Asher B. Durand (1796–1886), Kindred Spirits, 1849
Oil on canvas, 44 × 36 in. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. 2010.106.

Kindred Spirits is a defining image of American art. Painted by Asher Brown Durand as a tribute to his late friend and mentor, the artist Thomas Cole (1801–1848), the work also honors poet William Cullen Bryant (1794–1886), who stands beside Cole in the majestic landscape. Bryant’s 1821 poem Thanatopsis, especially the verse, “Go forth, under the open sky, and list / To Nature’s teachings,” shaped Durand’s celebratory vision of Cole’s—and ultimately everyone’s—return to nature following death.

The painting is also emblematic of the Crystal Bridges collection. Renowned art historian and founding Crystal Bridges board member John Wilmerding wrote of the painting’s meanings: “Its depiction of two figures standing in the wilderness is symbolic of man’s relationship to his environment and the essential role that nature plays in the definition of our national identity and destiny. The architecture and display of the Crystal Bridges collection equally emphasize the appreciation of art and nature as an integrated experience.”