The ability to see material objects as individual entities, helped promote love of nature. Asher Durand, who became the head of the Hudson River School after Cole's death, writes:
"Let it be remembered that the subject of the picture - the material object or objects from which it is constructed - is the essential parts of it. If you have no love for them, you can have no genuine feeling forthe picture which represents them. You may have a kind of admiration for the masterly treatment, and remarkable qualities, but that does not constitute love for Art - it is only an intellectual perception of power. We love Nature and Beauty - we admire the artist who renders them in his works."
