Landscape artists, like Clive R. Tyler [featured in the February issue], who are driven to capture the emotional connection they feel toward the scene they're painting, usually find kinship in the contributions made to American art history by the Hudson River School of painters. One of the major figures in the movement, Asher B. Durand, turned to landscapes after an inspiring journey to the Adirondacks region of New York. There he saw and began to convey in his work a grand and poetic vision of the American landscape (see The Beeches, a work from 1845, at left).

A survey of Durand's work can be seen in the retrospective, "Kindred Spirits: Asher B. Durand and the American Landscape," which opens February 2 at the San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA). Organized by the Brooklyn Museum, the show makes its last stop at SDMA—the only west coast venue, so start making your plans!

As a bonus, you'll also get to see "Plein Air Past and Present," a display of 20 paintings from the Southern California area, painted in the late 19th and early 20th century. Organized in collaboration with the Lux Art Institute, the display will run at SDMA concurrently with "Kindred Spirits."

Inspiring art. Southern California in February. Say no more!

The Beeches (above; 1845; oil on canvas, 60 3/8 x 48 1/8) by Asher B. Durand. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Bequest of Maria DeWitt Jesup, from the collection of her husband, Morris K. Jesup, 1914, 15.30.59, Photograph © 1992 The Metropolitan Museum of Art