James Hope, Chattanooga from Lookout Mountain, 1878, Oil on canvas, (Photographed in the 1810-1880: Southern Furniture and Paintings Studio at the Hunter Museum)
The Southern Furniture and Paintings room inside the Hunter Museum Mansion has always been one of my favorite places to be in the gallery. There is so much of Chattanooga's history within the walls of the mansion that it almost feels like I'm walking through a time capsule unearthed inside the Hunter Museum. One painting in particular really captured my intrigue and that was the painting created by James Hope. Chattanooga from Lookout Mountain was a view into how our home town of Chattanooga was seen back before the common camera was in common use. While seemingly more realistic that the horizons of Will Henry Stevens paintings, Hope's illustration of the mountains were just as visually striking. Both artist managed to capture the essence of their environment by illustrating their own conceptual viewpoints in their own style of painting. James Hope's representational imagery captured a moment in history within his oil painting right down to every rock and tree branch. For me to look at this painting makes me feel as though I'm standing along that cliff looking down on the rocky hills of Chattanooga in 1878.
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