Landscape with Farm and Mountains

Charles Codman was one of the first professional artists to paint the landscape of Maine, although he often combined elements from his imagination with on-the-spot sketches. The country’s natural landscape fascinated Americans of the 1830s, who wanted to enjoy its untamed quality even as their settlements encroached on the wilderness. Codman emphasized this contradiction by showing a hay cart, figures, and a small shack against a dramatic view of the mountains. This intimate, domestic scene of people going about their everyday lives contrasts with the vast expanse of uninhabited wilderness behind them.