What Thomas Carlyle in 1829 called the Age of Machinery – later renamed the Industrial Revolution – radically altered conventional modes of being and marked a turning point in man’s relationship with his environment. New production systems delivered an abundance of goods for consumption, but in the process natural resources were depleted, water and soil polluted, whilst fumes contaminated the air. [Read more…] about Asher Durand’s Painted Puzzle of Progress
Hudson River School
Hudson River School Artist Thomas Cole Subject of Documentary Series
Reframing an Empire, a new series on Hudson River School artist Thomas Cole‘s profound influence on American history is now airing on PBS. [Read more…] about Hudson River School Artist Thomas Cole Subject of Documentary Series
After Icebergs: A NY Artist’s 1859 Arctic Adventure
The new edition of After Icebergs with a Painter A Summer Voyage to Labrador and around Newfoundland (Black Dome Press, 2022), by Louis Legrand Noble with an introduction by William L. Coleman, looks at an internationally renowned American artist of fame and fortune at the very peak of his powers.
A pastor and lauded writer with a sharp eye for revealing and humorous detail, Noble describes a journey fraught with danger and drama aboard the schooner Integrity to the latitudes where icebergs dwell with Hudson River School painter Frederic Church. [Read more…] about After Icebergs: A NY Artist’s 1859 Arctic Adventure
A Christmas in Kingston in the 1880s
“I went out after a Christmas tree and some laurel, through seas of mud,” Jervis McEntee of Kingston wrote on Christmas Eve 1881, “to the place where I always go on the cross road between the Flat-bush and Pine bush roads. It rained a part of the time and turned into a snow storm on our return.”
Another year, McEntee’s usual places for a tree were so wet that he settled for a small hemlock on the side of the hill where he lived. It was a hill that offered a panoramic view of the entire village as well as the Rondout Creek and the Hudson River. His father James, an engineer who had helped build the nearby Delaware and Hudson Canal, had built the first house on the hill and the family still lived there. [Read more…] about A Christmas in Kingston in the 1880s
Thomas Cole Site Gets Major Grant for Master Plan
The Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill, NY is a National Historic Landmark located and international destination that includes the home and studios of artist and early environmentalist Thomas Cole (1801-1848).
Cole founded the first major art movement of the United States, now known as the Hudson River School of landscape painting. His home and studios are surrounded by the stunning New York landscapes that he painted, weaving the wilderness of the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson River Valley into our national identity. [Read more…] about Thomas Cole Site Gets Major Grant for Master Plan
Paint Tubes, Plein Air and Protest
Living in London in 1841, American portrait painter John Goffe Rand patented his invention of the zinc collapsible paint tube with a stopper cap. He revolutionized the artist’s palette by offering a range of pre-mixed colors in a portable medium.
Young painters packed up their foldable easels and boxed sets of factory-made brushes and set out to explore the great outdoors. [Read more…] about Paint Tubes, Plein Air and Protest
Hudson River School Exhibit Digital Tour Launched
The Albany Institute of History & Art has announced the launch of a new 3D digital tour of their Hudson River School exhibition.
The Albany Institute has one of the largest collections of Hudson River School style paintings and now, visitors can explore the landscapes and scenes of the Hudson River School painters from anywhere in the world. [Read more…] about Hudson River School Exhibit Digital Tour Launched
NYS Museum Opens Tonalism Art Exhibit
The New York State Museum has announced the opening of Tonalism: Pathway from the Hudson River School to Modern Art, an exhibition exploring a late 19th century movement in painting with deep connections to New York State.
On display through June 14, 2020, the exhibition features over 60 artworks – including paintings, prints, and photographs – from institutions across the state as well as private collections. [Read more…] about NYS Museum Opens Tonalism Art Exhibit
Kaatscast Podcast Features Catskills History, Culture
Kaatscast is a new biweekly podcast delivering interviews, arts, culture, and history, from New York’s Catskill mountains.
In the episode, learn about painter Thomas Cole and the Hudson River School, then delve into the cottage communities of the late 1800s, with a current Twilight Park resident. From there, we hear from a New York State forester on the history of the Catskill Park. Then we’re off to Tannersville, to meet the mayor, followed by a chat with Hunter Mountain’s Gary Slutzky. [Read more…] about Kaatscast Podcast Features Catskills History, Culture
Catskill Creek: Exhibition Illuminates Hudson River School
The Thomas Cole National Historic Site has announced the new exhibit “Thomas Cole’s Refrain: The Paintings of Catskill Creek” will be on view from May 4th to November 3rd, 2019.
The exhibition tells the story of Cole’s discovery of Catskill Creek, with its Catskill Mountain background, and his ever deepening attachment to it over the course of eighteen years. [Read more…] about Catskill Creek: Exhibition Illuminates Hudson River School