Origin and Importance of the Hudson River School in American Art

In 1825, the English émigré painter Thomas Cole sailed up the Hudson River to the Catskill Mountains, producing a series of landscape paintings that won him almost instant fame when he returned to New York City. The paintings caught the imagination of a public already entranced with the rugged beauty and seemingly untouched wilderness presented by writers such as James Fenimore Cooper. Cole’s work inspired a uniquely American movement of pastoral landscape painting that explored themes of discovery, exploration and nationalism. Join us to learn more about the origins of this movement, including examples from the collections of the Muscarelle and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

About the speaker: 
Jeffrey Allison is the Paul Mellon Collection educator at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and a professional photographer. He holds a BA in photography and film from Virginia Intermont College and an MFA in photography from VCU.

This lecture is free and open to all. It will take place in the theatre of the Williamsburg Library at 515 Scotland Street.

Presented in partnership with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Williamsburg Contemporary Art Center.

JASPER FRANCIS CROPSEY | Amercian, 1823-1900 | Autumn Landscape, 1875 | Oil on canvas | Purchase, Endowment Acquisition Fund, Museum Acquisition Fund and Joseph and Margaret Muscarelle Art Endowment Fund | 1995.090