卡阿特斯基尔丁香，Kaaterskill Clove_1866_阿舍·布朗·杜兰德油画作品欣赏。
在卡茨基尔，丁香是一个独特的特征或“裂缝”，是哈德逊河画派艺术家画得最多的地方之一。丁香崎岖不平的地形是由冰川作用和河流的侵蚀力造成的。位于丁香脚下的帕伦维尔成为美国第一个艺术殖民地。
托马斯·科尔在海恩斯瀑布的顶部画了丁香，阿舍·杜兰德在圣克鲁斯瀑布附近画了丁香，桑福德·吉福德在诗人岩架附近画了丁香。他们的绘画帮助美国人形成了民族认同感。这里有一种野性的、崇高的、与欧洲所知的任何东西都截然不同的自然特质。丁香对这些画家来说是如此重要，以至于杜兰德选择了丁香作为《志趣相投》(家族精神)的背景，这是他与诗人威廉·卡伦·布莱恩特(威廉·卡伦·布莱恩特)对托马斯·科尔(托马斯·科尔)的致敬。由于卡茨基尔森林保护区的存在，今天的卡茨基尔地区和19世纪的大部分地区没有什么不同。
杜兰德描绘树木时所表现出的那种对大自然特有的忠诚和感情，是非常明显的。鸟瞰图、灯光的层次感、树叶的颜色、山体的坡度——总之，整个景观表达和谐、宏伟、温柔、真实。《艺术家之书》;《美国艺术家生活》1867
The clove, a distinctive feature or "cleft" in the Catskills, was one of the places most painted by the Hudson River School artists. The rugged terrain of the clove was created by glacial action and the erosive forces of the streams that cut into its depths and cascade down its sides. Palenville, at the foot of the clove, became America's first art colony.
Thomas Cole painted the clove from the top of Haines Falls, Asher Durand from nearby Santa Cruz Falls, and Sanford Gifford from near Poet's Ledge. Their paintings helped Americans form a sense of national identity. Here was a quality of nature wild, sublime, and distinctly different from anything known in Europe. The clove was of such importance to these painters that Durand chose it as the setting for the painting Kindred Spirits, his tribute to Thomas Cole with poet William Cullen Bryant. The area today is largely as it was in the 19th century due to its inclusion in the Catskill Forest Preserve.
"The peculiar fidelity and sentiment of nature with which Durand always depicts trees, is eloquently manifest. The aerial perspective, the gradations of light, the tints of foliage, the slope of the mountains - in a word, the whole scenic expression is harmonious, grand, tender and true." Henry T. Tuckerman, Book of the Artists; American Artist Life, 1867
