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• http://www.nassaumuseum.com/

Poetic Journey: Hudson River School Paintings from the Grey Collection

January 18 - March 15, 2009

On the anniversary of the 400th year since Henry Hudson's exploration of what came to be called the Hudson River, Nassau County Museum of Art (NCMA) presents Poetic Journey: Hudson River School Paintings from the Grey Collection, an exhibition based the extraordinary holdings of Long Island art collectors David and Laura Grey. Included in this exhibition are works by masters of the genre such as Thomas Moran, Albert Bierstadt, George Inness and John Frederick Kensett, among others. Poetic Journey is on view from January 18, 2009 through March 15, 2009. The exhibition is organized by Constance Schwartz and Franklin Hill Perrell. (right: Thomas Moran, Long Island Landscape, 1902, Oil on canvas, 20 x 30 inches. The Grey Collection, Brookville, New York)

These Hudson River School paintings present a deeply moving and historic theme, one that has been relatively untouched in recent exhibitions at this museum. The artists of period, ca. 1840-1880, evolved through the Romantic spirit inspired by the majesty of the nation's vast and powerful landscape and came to comprise the first authentic American art movement, one which defined itself in predominantly American terms with regard to both subject and style. In depicting the awe-inspiring landscapes of America, they were inspired by the ideas of the writers Thoreau and Emerson. Their work reflected a widespread belief that scenes of untouched America had a purity lacking in historic European landscapes. This fascination with pristine American scenes combined with the evolving political concept of manifest destiny to sweep the visual arts of the mid- and late-19th century.

Also drawn from important Long Island collections are the works of the main exhibition, Long Island Collects, and a companion exhibition, Andy Warhol Silkscreens. To view wall panels from Long Island Collects please click here.

Public programs

NCMA is sponsoring several public programs to illuminate and enhance the experience of viewing the exhibition. Among the events are talks by Chief Curator Franklin Hill Perrell, Charles A. Riley II, PhD and art collector David Grey and private tours of the exhibition followed by elegant teas. For details on these events or to register, call (516) 484-9338, ext 12 or log onto http://www.nassaumuseum.com/

Wall text from the exhibition

The Hudson River School paintings from the collection of Laura and David Grey present a deeply moving and historic theme, one relatively untouched in recent exhibitions at this museum. The artists of this period, ca. 1840-1880, evolved through the Romantic spirit inspired by our nation's vast and powerful landscape. The transcendentalism explored by the writers Thoreau and Emerson informs these works. The artists, in recognition of God's handiwork, acknowledged in paint the poets' sense of the sublime.

 

The Hudson River School, which included the artists Cole, Cropsey, Gifford, Inness, Kensett, etc., was the first authentic American art movement. This seminal group defined itself in predominantly American terms with regard to both subject and style. As such, they had a mission: to disseminate awe inspiring images of the American wilderness. Their presentation, rooted in descriptive literalism, embraced individual differences of approach: tactility, color, scale, and compositional preferences reflecting the temperament of each artist. The Hudson River artists taught themselves in the spirit of Yankee ingenuity and worked with available resources to narrate their story of the "New World."

 

Their quest for a formal vocabulary that would come to terms with their concept of natural perfection ultimately led to Luminism. This technique of crisp forms, dramatically illuminated in contrasting light and shade, conveyed a crystalline clarity in atmospheric stillness. The artists sought to minimize evidence of the human hand by eliminating painterly gesture through smooth, all-over brushwork. The drama of light, in golden hues with touches of pink, becomes all-encompassing as if to manifest the deific or holy in nature.

 

There was, at this time, a widespread belief that such American scenes, largely free from human intervention, emblemized a purity that historic European landscapes lacked. This theme of discovery combined with the political concept of manifest destiny swept this period of art throughout the young and growing nation.

 

(above: George Inness, Sunset, ca. 1878-1879, Oil on canvas, 10 x 15 inches. The Grey Collection, Brookville, New York)

(above: Frank Andersonm Breakneck Mountain, Hudson Highlands, 1878, Oil on canvas, 10 x 16 3/8 inches. The Grey Collection, Brookville, New York)

(above: William Trost Richards, Along the Atlantic, 1870, Oil on canvas, 8 x 16 inches. The Grey Collection, Brookville, New York)

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