Long before the famous music festival in 1969, Woodstock, New York was home to what is considered one of America’s first intentionally created, year-round arts colony — founded in 1902. Collecting the remarkable range of work produced there has been Arthur A. Anderson’s focus for three decades, resulting in the largest comprehensive assemblage of its type.
The artists represented in this collection reflect the diversity of those who came to Woodstock, including Birge Harrison, Konrad Cramer, George Bellows, Eugene Speicher, Peggy Bacon, Rolph Scarlett, and Yasuo Kuniyoshi, among many others.
Anderson recently donated his entire collection — some 1,500 objects by almost 200 artists — to the New York State Museum, and a new book introduces to the public, for the first time, a sample of the highlights of this extraordinary collection, which represents a body of work that together shaped art and culture in New York and forms a history of national and international significance.
The Historical Society of Woodstock will host Arthur A. Anderson in conversation with art historian Bruce Weber discussing the collection, followed by a signing of the recently published book by SUNY Press, The Historic Woodstock Art Colony: The Arthur A. Anderson Collection, on Saturday, July 20, 2024 from 2 to 4 pm at 20 Comeau Drive in Woodstock, N.Y. Admission is free. Anderson will sign copies of the book, which is lavishly illustrated and includes essays by eight authors.
The Historical Society of Woodstock was founded in 1929 by a group of artists, writers, academics, and local citizens. In addition to the exhibition space, which is located at the historic Eames House on Comeau Drive in the center of Woodstock, the Historical Society has an extensive archive consisting of paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, textiles, photographs, books, manuscripts, correspondence, documents, film/sound recordings, and antique tools. The archive serves as a resource for a wide range of exhibitions, public programming, and research.
Leave a Reply