Two major donations highlight an exciting August for the New-York Historical Society.
Adding to its already stellar collection of Hudson River School paintings, the New-York Historical Society announced that it has received 15 paintings from the late Arthur and Eileen Newman. The gift includes works by Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church, and Martin Johnson Heade.
Senior art historian and museum director emerita Dr. Linda S. Ferber remarked, “My first visit to see these wonderful Hudson River School paintings at the Newmans’ apartment brought the thrilling realization that the ‘fit’ of their collection and New-York Historical Society’s holdings was truly uncanny. The core of N-YHS’ Hudson River School collection came from the landmark holdings of two great 19th-century New York collectors: Luman Reed and Robert L. Stuart. The 21st-century gift of the Newman Family Collection, formed in recent decades with such dedication and thoughtfulness, brings our historic collections to a new breadth and strength, offering fresh opportunities to foster scholarship and to mount exhibitions that will share the enduring legacy of the Hudson River School’s vision of America with visitors.”
Frederic Edwin Church, “Home by the Lake,” ca. 1852, oil on canvas, (c) New-York Historical Society 2015
The organization won’t wait long, as a preview of selected paintings from the Newman collection begins on August 28. Thomas Cole’s “On Catskill Creek, Sunset” from 1845 is a delightful picture of one of the artist’s favorite places to paint. “Home by the Lake” by Frederic Edwin Church is a similar scene, displaying a soft golden light as it fades and blankets a quintessential Hudson River School pastoral scene.
To learn more, visit the New-York Historical Society.
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