Their story begins in the northern states. In his book The Story of American Painting, Abraham A. Davidson calls an English-born artist, Thomas Cole (1801-1848) one of the leaders. Cole's oil-on-canvas painting, The Oxbow (The Connecticut River near Northampton), done in 1836, depicts a vast and lonely scene.

Born in England, Cole came to America when he was 18 and established the Hudson River School in 1820. The landscape artists who were involved in this school believed in an innate harmony between nature and humans. Nature both inspired and awed them. Early works from this school might feature a distant scene 'framed' by small human figures or trees.

Other presentations developed. Frederich Edwin Church (1826-1900), painted vistas in the north, in the western U.S. and in Latin America. He viewed nature as "impersonal in its grandeur." In his famous oil, Niagara (1857), the Falls appear in all their solitary glory.

As colonization moved westward, so did our artists. Some of them formed the Rocky Mountain School. Another British-born artist, Thomas Moran, belonged to this group. His painting, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (1872), is typical of the school's focus on the gigantic landscapes of the American west.

Also during the 19th century, some American artists embraced luminism, reflecting their interest in the effect of light. Two prominent artists in this venue were Fitz Hugh Lane (1804-65) and Frederick Kensett (1816-72). They painted mood-affecting landscapes -- soothing rather than dramatic.

Toward the end of the 1800s, George Inness (1825-94) enjoyed a leadership role. He traveled to Europe, where he was influenced by the Barbizon school, a forerunner of Impressionism. Davidson calls him "probably the most accomplished landscape painter of the century."

Landscapes were also composed by artists working in other venues. Watercolors, etchings, pencil and charcoal drawings and photography were, and continue to be, important mediums.

Watercolor became a popular medium for landscapes in the late 19th century. Numerous artists took up this medium and its variations. Etchers include John McNeill Whistler, Arthur Heintzelman and others.

Although the 20th century brought new art forms, landscapes continued to be a medium for many artists. An example is Edward Hopper (1882-1967), a foremost realist painter.

Then and today, one finds landscapes in galleries all over the country -- in art museums, in publications and on the Internet. And they are part of the "landscape" of many American homes.