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Jacob Lee

Professor Gaughan

Writing Studies and Composition II

Essay I

26 February 2017

Humankind’s Perception of Wilderness

Nature, of itself, remains unchanged. Since the beginning of time the natural world

remained relatively the same and experienced very few evolutions over the course of history.

That is likely because nature is a force stronger than that of humankind. Humans attempt to tame

and manipulate what is natural. They set fires, rape landscapes, and they build homes with very

little regard for what nature thinks. In the end, it is nature that always prevails as it has been

there in the beginning and will be there in the end. What does change, however, is humankind.

Civilization constantly evolves, whether it’s in transcension or descension. Either way, humans

are fluid, while nature is stagnant. Alongside the evolution of humankind, its perception of

nature changes. There are several different ways that humans perceive nature. Over time, the

perception of nature changed from wild and untamed to more docile and submissive. Across

cultures, nature also varies based on human interpretation. Some cultures avoid nature while

others utilize it for their own benefit. That said, the vastly diverse interpretations of nature can

be traced through art. Specifically, through paintings such as Wenzel Peter’s Adam and Eve in

the Garden of Eden, John Vanderlyn’s Death of Jean McCrea, Thomas Cole’s series entitled The

Course of Empire, and both of Friedrich David Casper’s works Woman before the Setting Sun,

and Wanderer Above the Sea of Mist. These pieces reflect the interpretation that humankind has
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for nature as well as the different possible depictions of nature in the past, the present, and the

future as it spans across time and space. That said, while nature remains still, humans interpret it

in a variety of different ways.

An example of human interpretation of nature presents itself in Wenzel Peter’s Adam and

Eve in the Garden of Eden. This is a religious allusion to the first few days that humans grazed

the earth. The first two humans, Adam and Eve, were placed in the utopic Garden of Eden. The

garden, as depicted in art as a sparkling haven, could be considered the first human perception of

nature. The idea of the Garden as portrayed in biblical times is that it is an eternal blissful land

that will always be there to be admired by mankind. The Garden is depicted by Wenzel Peter to

be a land where a variety of animals live harmoniously and without any sense of discrimination.

The painting seems to have a rather mellow tone that reflects the mood of every plant, animal,

and human grazing the land. Additionally, harmony can be portrayed in this painting as it

portrays the existence of male and female creatures. Although Adam and Eve are human, the

painting seems to focus on nature before the influence of man, in its purest, most unadulterated

form. That said, humans have changed the role of nature and altered the perspective by which it

is viewed. Nash brings up the case where “In 1823, the year of Cooper’s Pioneers, a young man

gave up a shaky career as a portrait painter in frontier Ohio and turned his considerable talents

into depicting, as he puts it, ‘the wild and great features of nature: mountainous forest that know

not man.’” (Nash 78). As with other arguments about nature, it makes sense to believe that man

is often an antagonist to the preservation and naturalization of previously pure nature. This

specific belief corresponds with the painting of the Garden of Eden, untouched by man and its

depiction of the original incarnation of nature.

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As time passed, what had previously been know as nature is more accurately described as

wilderness. Humankind tends to make consistent attempts over the course of decades to

understand what perplexed them most. This same curiosity is what caused humankind,

particularly Americans, to exploreans attempt to tame nature. Man wants to seize everything that

nature has to offer. The idealization of nature explains how such a clearly utopian landscape

could evolve into the dark and uncertain maze called wilderness. Furthermore, “constant

exposure to nature gave rise to fear and hatred on the part of those who had to fight it for survival

and success” (Nash 43). Such an observation is justified by John Vanderlyn in his work Death of

Jean McCrea. In this painting, the Native American individuals are portrayed, in a rather

insensitive manner, as more animal-like, embracing a certain level of savagery. Wilderness takes

a rather three dimensional form in this painting as it exudes in both the Native Americans as well

as the forest depicted among the humans in action. Specifically, in the painting, the Native

Americans are attacking a beautiful and elegantly dressed young woman mainly using hatchets.

This scene takes place in front of a dark woodsy background which seems to carry with it a sense

of secrecy. That said, considering the pride that humankind has when it comes to exploring and

taming, one can assume that they have been continuously altering the depiction of nature itself.

In all, human perception of nature later changed, due to the colonization and the American

attempt to claim nature as its own.

In terms of a more futuristic depiction of what nature could be, Thomas Cole’s series

entitled The Course of Empire explains the probable outcome very well. The series describes the

course of the human empire and its inevitable decline. In the beginning, there was nothing but

nature in its purest form. Then, when humans became more involved in civilization, the once

pure beauty of nature changed. Originally, nature was depicted as a harsh and somewhat barren
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landscape. In the first painting in the series, the colors are very dark, implying a gloomy sort of

atmosphere. Even with this realization, it is clear that nature is depicted as being rather peaceful

and serene as if it were to exist purely in homeostasis. However, by the second painting in the

series, human civilization begins to form. Originally, civilization formed in the outskirts of

nature; wilderness still had power. In the painting, the man-made structure is seen off to the side

in the background of the already existing nature that takes precedence. Also, in this addition to

the series, humans are visible. While they exist closer to the foreground, they don’t seem to be

the ultimate focus of the painting. Rather, the true focus, not only in the painting, but also, in

reality and across time, is found in wilderness.

After this, humankind began building and civilizing. This developed the previously

flourishing landscape with marble and large buildings in which people reside. Unnatural colors,

such as orange and white, flood the painting, implying a complete shift in power. The power of

nature has been diminished to nearly nothing while the power of humans overshadows what was

previously known. All that’s known from history is that nature is fairly consistent. However, by

the time that the next image of the sequence occurs, the idea of nature itself seems to vanish.

The humans who have built idols as well as statues to celebrate and worship. Later, these idols

as well as the cities in which they were held grew wartorn and disheveled. Statues appear

cracked, oceans rise and engulf towns, people fight with each other, a typhoon seems to form on

the horizon as dark storm clouds swallow the sky. Man fights man, woman fights woman,. The

streets are flooded with people both sheltering from the weather and from each other. Arguably,

nature is taking back what rightfully belongs to it. Humans made the error of trying to interpret

and take over the wilderness, and now, they pay the price. Finally, in the last painting in the

series, all that’s left is nature. While there are remanence of the previously existing civilization,
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for the most part, nature has overcome what was left. Although there was as time where humans

thought that they could succeed in dominating the world and pushing nature itself out of the

picture, it turns out that in the end, wilderness will always prevail. Humans can interpret nature

either as a docile, calm being that does nothing but coexist, they could interpret it as a

supermarket of sorts that provides a plethora of resources to benefit anybody who can pull from

it, or it can be a destructive, almost divine being that has the power to annihilate empires.

Overall, while nature remains the same, essentially, any variation in its form is completely

dependent on how it is viewed and manipulated. Humankind will come and go, but nature

remains until the very end of time.

In terms of the last sequence of photos, Friedrich David Casper’s works Woman before

the Setting Sun, and Wanderer Above the Sea of Mist show the more romantic view of what

nature can be. Romanticism is the idea that something is more beautiful than it truly is. That

said, Romanticism is about exaggerating qualities, humanizing aspects and adding an emotional

undertone to something that is considered objective. Beginning with Casper’s Woman before the

Setting Sun, a true example of what Romanticism is in reference to nature, the woman acts as a

first person host. In a way acting as a narrator, the woman gives us a body and a pair of eyes to

gaze upon the sunset through. The painting portrays a more tame environment with grass, a

path, and a setting sun. Due to the increasing serenity of the painting, the painter succeeded in

portraying Romanticism. This is a true example of how beautiful nature can be when observed

in a specific manner.

Additionally, the same painter created Wanderer Above the Sea of Mist. This painting

shows a man standing above a sea, seemingly on an icy mountain. Unlike the body language of

the woman in the previous painting which was warm, accepting, and rather humbling, the body
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language of this man is confident as if he had just conquered the land that he looks down upon.

This is yet another perception of nature that has been interpreted by humankind. Nature can

appear to humans as rigid and untameable or as Romantic and oddly beautiful. “The line

between the sublime’s delightful horror and genuine terror was thin” (Nash 79). Therefore,

Casper succeeds in providing a view of nature that differs from others.

Overall, nature does not change. It has always been here and will always be here. The

only way that nature can even carry an illusion of being fluid is through the eye of the beholder.

One may view nature as barren, as invasive, as beautiful, as romantic, as pastoral, or as sublime,

but all of that depends on who is being questioned on what they see in nature. Art seems to be a

great way to express what one sees in nature and has a plethora of variations. Nature can take

the form of harsh wilderness, mysterious woods, or even rooftop gardens, but, one thing that’s

held consistent between all people and throughout time is that nature is perplexing. No one fully

understands its capabilities nor do they understand how or even why it operates. Nature will

likely remain cryptic and unusual for eternity. Speaking of eternity, that is likely how long it

will last as well.

Jacob Lee
Professor Gaughan
Writing Studies and Composition II
Essay I
26 February 2017

Works Cited

Friedrich, Caspar David, German. Wanderer Above the Sea of Mist. 1818.
http://library.artstor.org/asset/AIC_930031. Web. 6 Feb 2018.

Friedrich, Caspar David, 1774-1840. Woman before the Setting Sun. 1818. Museum Folkwang
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Essen. http://library.artstor.org/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822000654382. Web. 6 Feb 2018.

Nash, Roderick, and Char Miller. Wilderness and the American Mind. Yale University Press,
2014.

Peter, Wenzel. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Oil on canvas, 336 x 247 cm (11X8)
Vatican Museum.

Thomas Cole. The Course of Empire: The Arcadian or Pastoral State. ca. 1834. New-York
Historical Society, Gift of the New-York Gallery of the Fine Arts.
http://library.artstor.org/asset/AWSS35953_35953_39985876. Web. 6 Feb 2018.

Thomas Cole. The Course of Empire: The Savage State. ca. 1834. New-York Historical Society,
Gift of the New-York Gallery of the Fine Arts.
http://library.artstor.org/asset/AWSS35953_35953_39985874. Web. 6 Feb 2018.

Thomas Cole. The Course of Empire: The Consummation of Empire. 1835-1836. New-York
Historical Society, Gift of the New-York Gallery of the Fine Arts.
http://library.artstor.org/asset/AWSS35953_35953_39985878. Web. 6 Feb 2018.

Thomas Cole. The Course of Empire: Desolation. 1836. New-York Historical Society, Gift of
the New-York Gallery of the Fine Arts.
http://library.artstor.org/asset/AWSS35953_35953_39985882. Web. 6 Feb 2018.

Thomas Cole. The Course of Empire: Destruction. 1836. New-York Historical Society, Gift of
the New-York Gallery of the Fine Arts.
http://library.artstor.org/asset/AWSS35953_35953_39985880. Web. 6 Feb 2018.

Vanderlyn, John, 1775-1852.. Death of Jane McCrea. 1804.. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine
Arts.. http://library.artstor.org/asset/CARNEGIE_4320002. Web. 6 Feb 2018.