Home on the Hudson

Directly across the river from Boscobel, West Point, was an important artistic center in the 19th century. Founded in 1803, the Department of drawing at West Point was intended to educate engineers in the rudiments of military drawing. However, the academy consistently hired fine artists to instruct the drawing curriculum.

In 1834, the prominent painter Robert Walter Weir became Professor of Drawing and taught cadets for forty-two years, including the painter Seth Eastman, and a young James McNeil Whistler. Elected to the National Academy of Design in 1831, Weir was active in the New York art community and knew Hudson River School luminaries such as Cole and Durand.

Weir painted landscapes of the surrounding area and extended this interest into his instruction, quite possibly making West Point the only drawing school that emphasized landscape at that time. He is also known as a history painter and his Landing of Hendrik Hudson recalls the historic event that spurs this exhibition. Weir’s son, John Ferguson Weir, also painted Hudson scenery and later became a teacher in the tradition of his father when he was made the first director of the Yale School of Art.

Best known for his paintings of the American west, Albert Bierstadt owned a majestic summer residence on the Hudson. Malkasten, meaning “paint box” in German, was built between 1865-1866 and, ironically, was funded, in part, by the sale of Bierstadt’s western works. Bierstadt’s home and studio allowed him to interact with the Hudson landscape in a characteristically grandiose manner. His cavernous studio featured doors which, when moved, could open a single wall to the grand vista below, thereby accessing and framing the landscape through his own domestic space. Unfortunately Malkasten was destroyed by fire in 1882.

A lesser-known fact about Bierstadt is his involvement with the New York city based Bierstadt Bros. photographic company. This exhibition will feature stereographic images of the Hudson valley that Bierstadt Bros. produced, a reminder that oil painting was not the only way in which 19th century artists and viewers interacted with Hudson scenery.

Fanny Palmer was a workhorse of the Currier and Ives printmaking firm. Recognized as a democratizing artistic force in 19th century America, Currier and Ives produced prints specifically targeted towards the middle class interior.

Born in England, Palmer received her artistic training at a girl’s school. She later parleyed her skills into a viable career as a lithographer, first for a company that she and her husband founded and later for Currier and Ives. This profession was advantageous for Palmer as it allowed her to utilize her skill set while working from home.

Palmer resided in Brooklyn for most of her life and scholars have maintained that she did not travel frequently, and therefore relied on preexisting images and imagination to create her compositions. However, a remaining watercolor sketch of the area surrounding West Point has put this theory in question. It is quite possible that Palmer may have spent time in the Hudson Valley, a well-traveled route for artists and tourists alike.

Best known for his aquatint plates in Audubon’s Birds of America, Robert Havell emigrated from England to New York in 1839. Legend has it that in 1841, during a sketching trip in Ossining, NY, Havell and his family discovered a piece of property that they fell in love with. It was upon this site that Havell built Rocky Mount, the home that he designed himself.

Although it survived until the 1990’s, sadly Rocky Mount is no longer extant. Nonetheless, the street where the house once stood is still named Havell. Havell had his studio in the cupola of the home and frequently pictured the vista that its elevated vantage point provided. Significantly, he inscribed this view on the very walls of his home, completing a mural that was removed from the house shortly before its demolition. It is believed that Hudson River Looking North to Croton Point also pictures the vista visible from Havell’s studio.

Recognized as a master of autumnal scenery and perhaps, as the most ardent follower of Cole, Jasper Cropsey had two homes on the Hudson during his lifetime. In 1866, he purchased property near Warwick, NY where he constructed Aladdin (completed 1869), a Gothic Revival Mansion that boasted 29-rooms and an artist’s studio.

However, by the 1880s, Cropsey could no longer afford to maintain the property and Aladdin was sold by his creditors. In 1885 the Cropseys settled in a new home located in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. Ever Rest, although more modest than the stately Aladdin, is charming nonetheless. Originally built in 1835, Cropsey added a studio to the home in 1885. Indeed, Cropsey took much pride in his home; substantially contributing to its interior design. Designated a national historic site in 1973, the Newington-Cropsey foundation maintains superb period interiors at Ever Rest, with many original furnishings.

Thomas Prichard Rossiter is perhaps best known for his portraits and historical paintings. He was part of the New York circle of Hudson River School artists and in 1840, traveled to Europe with William Casilear, Asher B. Durand and John Frederick Kensett. Rossiter spent the last decade of his life upstate, living in Cold Spring, NY until his death in 1871. He designed his Hudson home, an Italianate mansion, Fair Lawn is located near Boscobel, overlooking the Hudson across from West Point. Today, Fair Lawn is a private home but was named a National Historic site in the early 1980’s. The idyllic genre scene House on the Hudson, included in the present exhibition, hearkens to the life he knew in the Hudson Valley.

Artist and inventor Samuel F.B. Morse counted landscape design among his diverse interests, as is evident in his relationship with his Hudson estate Locust Grove. In 1847, with the proceeds from his patents on the telegraph, Morse purchased the country home, situated outside Poughkeepsie, New York. The original structure was built in 1830 in the Greek Revival style, and, in the early 1850s, Morse commenced substantial alterations to the house with the help of his friend Alexander Jackson Davis. Davis’ landmark text Rural Residences (1837-38) was the first American book of its kind. Providing both images and text, it discussed the design of country houses that would be both attractive and appropriate for their surroundings. Among Davis’ changes were additions to the north and south corners of the structure as well as a four-story tour that allowed sweeping views of the Hudson. Additionally, this tower allowed views of the landscape that Morse was planning. Locust Grove was opened to the public in 1979.

Asher B. Durand, is an artist synonymous with the Hudson River School. Durand first came to prominence in New York City as an engraver, but in the 1830s he turned to painting, eventually becoming among the most revered of the Hudson River School painters. In addition to the finished canvases that he exhibited and sold Durand’s striking landscape studies have a significant place in the history of American Art. Furthermore, his Letters on Landscape Painting written for the Crayon in 1855 remain as a testament to the theory of his art.

Durand frequented the Hudson region with annual summer trips to the Catskills and Adirondacks. Between 1848 and 1849 he purchased a home in Newburgh, NY, precisely at the moment that he painted A Summer Afternoon, which is featured in the present exhibition. Although this work does not picture the Hudson proper the graceful banks of a babbling stream demonstrate Durand’s engagement with the tributaries around his new home.

An engraver of English birth, John Hill, moved to New York in 1822. Hill’s move was prompted by his involvement in the production of William Guy Wall’s Hudson River Portfolio (1821-1825), which included 20 aquatint views of the Hudson spanning Lake Luzerne to New York Harbor. A landmark in American printing, the Hudson River Portfolio is among the earliest series of views of American landscapes.

Over half a century later, Wallace Bruce’s Parnorama of the Hudson: Showing Both Sides of the River from New York to Albany, first published in 1888, follows in the tradition of Hill’s portfolio and other panoramic Hudson river guides of the 19th century. What set Bruce’s panorama apart is the fact that it was the first photographic book of its kind, and offered a text that sightseers could bring with them on their travels upriver. Bruce’s photographic panorama is featured in the exhibition and displays another iteration of Hudson scenery.

John Hill’s son, John William Hill, was apprenticed under his father and aided in the creation of the Hudson River Portfolio. By the late 1820’s John William was contributing to the National Academy of Design and from 1836 to 1841 worked, as a topographical artist for the New York State Geological Survey. From this earlier topographic style, influenced by his training with his father, John William became an ardent follower of Ruskin. By the mid 1850’s he had begun painting directly from nature and employed a watercolor stippling technique favored by Ruskin himself.

As early as 1847 John William listed his primary residence as West Nyack, where he had purchased land from his father and built a home in 1840. This estate, called The Homestead, was a base for the artist to explore the landscape and a location where he led studies in plein air painting.

Thomas Cole, the father of the Hudson River School, made his home in Catskill, NY. He had first ventured to Catskill in 1825 and later bought Cedar Grove. By 1836, upon his marriage, Cole made Cedar Grove his permanent home.

Cedar Grove was not only a source of inspiration for Cole himself but became a pilgrimage site for other artists. In this vein, John Mackie Falconer, a New York City based painter, depicted Cedar Grove in homage to Cole.

Kingston, the first capitol of New York, was the site of generations of artistic activity. John Vanderlyn, known as the first American to study in Paris, was born in Kingston in 1775. Vanderlyn came from a line of artists, his grandfather Pieter Vanderlyn being a Hudson Valley based portraitist. Although Vanderlyn received most of his early training in New York City at Archibald Robertson’s drawing school, he continued to engage with the landscape around his hometown. His early painting Hudson at Kingston, ca. 1790 predates the Hudson River School, displaying the fertile artistic heritage of the Hudson Valley.

A Rondout native, the painter and poet Jervis McEntee was at the center of Hudson River School circles. Well connected in the New York art world, McEntee also maintained a studio in Kingston, which was designed by his brother-in-law Calvert Vaux. Notably, in 1856, McEntee remembered the artistic history of his hometown in his Reminiscences of John Vanderlyn. Better recognized in the twentieth century for his extensive diaries, a rich resource and boon to many studies, this exhibition brings McEntee’s painting to the forefront.

Julia McEntee Dillon, Jervis’ cousin, also lived and worked in Rondout; proving that women also engaged in picturing the landscape at this moment. Dillon received her early education at the progressive Clinton Liberal Institute where she first learned to draw and 1872 took a trip to Europe. Upon her return from Europe Jervis fostered his cousin’s endeavors by allowing her the use of his Rondout studio. By the end of the 1870’s she was exhibiting at the National Academy of Design and Brooklyn Art Association

Rondout painter Joseph Tubby was a friend of Jervis McEntee’s from early adulthood and the two were known to go on sketching trips together in the area. Tubby’s painting Hussy Hill near Rondout, New York pictures a landmark of the area.

Second generation Hudson River School painter Sanford Gifford, was a native of Hudson, NY. Although he maintained a studio in New York City Gifford spent summers working on the Hudson river. In 1870, Gifford added a studio on top of his family’s Hudson, NY home, allowing him a privileged view of the surrounding scenery. The associations of Gifford’s family in Hudson provide an interesting dimension to his artistic production. Gifford painted the local areas of Mt. Merino and South Bay at times when they were subject to great industrial change; specifically at the hands of the Hudson Iron Company, owned by Gifford’s father. Although Gifford eschewed the depiction of environmental changes wrought by industry in his hometown, another resident of Hudson, the lesser-known painter Henry Ary placed it at the forefront of his work.

Frederic Church made his home outside Hudson, NY. Church bought the property that would become the site of Olana in 1860 and soon thereafter hired Richard Morris Hunt to design a family home. This home , Cosy Cottage, was completed in 1861. In 1867 Church purchased an adjoining property and hired Hunt to build a mansion in the French style. However, after a tour of Europe and the Middle East Church scrapped Hunt’s plans and hired Calvert Vaux instead, setting out to create his home in the Moorish style. Church worked on the design and interior of the house for a good portion of his life and Olana became one of his greatest masterpieces.

Although little known today, Eliza Greatorex was a well-recognized artist in her own time. Irish by birth, she was a fixture of the New York art world and the first woman to be elected to the National Academy of Design. Greatorex was very well traveled and, indeed, travel was a great source of inspiration for her. In the 1870’s she published a number of her etchings, including scenes of New York, Colorado and Oberammergau, Germany. Therefore, it is not surprising that she made the trip upstate, frequenting Cornwall, NY and produced landscape paintings of the surrounding areas.

Born to a prominent family of Dutch lineage, James Suydam inherited a fortune that allowed him to be both a painter and a patron. Although he came late to painting by the 1850’s Suydam led the life of a professional artist. As such, Suydam was part of New York city artistic circles and made numerous sketching trips with friends, such as Kensett, Gifford, and Worthington Whittredge. The Hudson Valley was among the locations that they frequented. As a collector Suydam also acquired the works of Hudson River School painters, many of whom were personal friends. Included in his collection were the works of Durand, Church, Cropsey, Kensett and Gifford.

Julie Hart Beers, sister of painters James McDougal Hart and William Hart, presumably learned to paint from her brothers. Although based in Brooklyn for most of her life, Beers’ round canvas, included in the present exhibition, displays a scene of Tarrytown, NY as seen from Mr. Henry Villard’s home. This work recalls both the oil painting format favored by the members of the Hudson River School and the arena of decorative arts in which women often participated. A more traditional canvas by Beers, picturing a woman and child walking in the Hudson Valley also echoes issues relating the life of a female artist. Beers herself offered plein air painting lessons to women and this is reminiscent of her own brambles in the landscape.

Born in Newburgh, NY in 1825, George Inness was a remarkable landscapist who was able evolve his idiom throughout his lifetime. While his early landscapes adhered most closely to the stylistic traits of the Hudson River School, as he matured as an artist, Inness’ paintings became less visually specific, a development often connected to his evolving spiritual beliefs. Inness was known to paint in multiple locations throughout his career, however, on the Hudson, Inness is most closely associated with Milton, NY. Inness often spent summers in Milton where he maintained a studio in a barn located on an apple orchard. Across the Hudson Valley in the Foothills of the Catskills, featured in the present exhibition, probably pictures a scene near Leeds, NY.