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While Thomas Cole took the lead in the development of the Hudson River School, an outstanding second generation of painters arose after him. This second generation of artists elevated American landscape painting to new levels by their incredible achievements. Their generation brought to life paintings of Frederic Edwin Church and Asher Brown Durand, whose works were not like those of Cole anymore. Moreover, these painters travelled far beyond the boundaries of the Catskill Mountains and visited the American West, and even the Andes, and the Arctic. The result of their explorations captured the majesty of nature and took the Hudson River School style to a whole new level.