That is art.
If anyone else has some examples, please post.
My favorite of the Hudson River School is probably Asher Durand, I love his charcoal sketches the best, he was a man who could take a quick impression. Here's a self-portrait:
Here are Mr. Durand and Mr. Cole on a promontory, in a self-portrait-with-landscape titled "Kindred Spirits":
Here is a lovely painting of Niagara by Albert Bierstadt, another of the HRS, although sometimes considered a member of the "Rocky Mountain School".
Another Durand, just because I like him:
Robert Havell, Jr