19th Century American Paintings

Training set

This LoRA was trained on over 150 paintings from major American painters of the 19th century, particularly from the Hudson River School. As a result, the model is best at romanticism, landscapes, and still life. Each painting was labeled by its artist (full name) so that you can prompt for specific styles. The names and items most frequently encountered with each artist are as follows:

• Martin Johnson Heade (27 paintings). Butterflies, birds, flowers, exotic landscapes.

• Joseph Decker (5 paintings). Still life of apples, plums, and strawberries.

• Eastman Johnson (12 paintings). Working-class people in the fields or in their homes.

• Thomas Cole (5 paintings). Buildings, ruins, romantic landscapes.

• Asher Brown Durand (9 paintings). Trees, landscapes, heavy skies.

• Thomas Moran (18 paintings). Natural parks.

• Frederic Edwin Church (15 paintings). Sunset/sunrise with red skies.

• Severin Roesen (10 paintings). Still life, large bouquets of flowers and fruits (grapes, apples).

• Albert Bierstadt (12 paintings). Grand landscapes, national parks, high contrast.

• Jasper Francis Cropsey (9 paintings). Romantic landscapes with ruins.

• Worthington Whittredge (4 paintings). Forests.

• Winslow Homer (6 paintings). Working-class people at sea or in (cotton) fields.

• Werner Hunzinger (3 paintings). Still life, grapes and transparent cups of wine.

• Richard Norris Brooke (3 paintings). Working-class people.

• John George Brown (15 paintings). Working-class people and youth.

• Virginia Granbery (3 paintings). Still life of cherries, red currants, strawberries.

The rest of the sample is completed by a few paintings from unlabelled artists (e.g., Robert Weir).

Sample prompts

• pa1nt1ng of still life. A vase on a marble table contains a large assortment of colorful flowers. On the table, there are plums and strawberries. A few birds and butterflies fly around the vase.

• pa1nt1ng in the style of Frederic Edwin Church. Scene of a Pacific Northwest beach with driftwood, raging waters with foaming seas, intense sunset with a red sky. Detailed, masterpiece.

Observations

If the model doesn't know about a certain object, then it reverts to Flux and it inserts a photo-realistic version. For example, a "pa1nt1ng of New York in the style of Albert Bierstadt" tends to give a photo of New York. If the model does know about a certain object then it gives you the 19th century version. For instance, a 'super yacht' will be a sailboat.

Books to know more

• William H. Gerdts: Painters of the Humble Truth: Masterpieces of American Still Life, 1801-1939, Columbia and London: University of Missouri Press (1981)

• Ferber, Linda S. The Hudson River School: Nature and the American Vision. New York Historical Society, 2009.