Hudson Rising on View March 1 – August 4, 2019
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Hudson Rising On view March 1 – August 4, 2019 Selected PR Images The New-York Historical Society explores 200 years of ecological change, artistic inspiration, and environmental activism along the Hudson River in Hudson Rising. The exhibition features celebrated Hudson River School paintings, artifacts, and stories that evoke a journey through Hudson River landscapes and weave together 200 years of history from the industrial era to today. Much more than a body of water, the Hudson River and its environs have provided habitat for humans and hundreds of species of fish, birds, and plants; offered an escape for city-dwellers; and became a battleground between industrialists and environmental activists. Writers and artists have captured the river in paintings, drawings, literature, and photographs, and surveyors and scientists have mapped and measured every aspect of it. Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire: Desolation, 1833-1836, New-York Historical Society, Gift of the New-York Gallery of the Fine Arts, 1858.5 Course of Empire is a panoramic series of five paintings intended to inspire reflection on the meaning of “progress.” Shown in a prelude to the exhibition, the first three paintings depict the transformation of a pristine landscape into a new and thriving city. The final two— including Desolation— chart its dramatic decline, leading to the fall of an entire civilization. Model of the Mary Powell, 1947. New-York Historical Society, Gift of Mr. Edward Hungerford Wood- and coal-fired steamboats made Hudson journeys easy, cheap, and reliable, carrying upriver New York City’s burgeoning population and manufactured goods. They brought back ice, bricks, iron, coal, and lumber. Travelers on the Hudson witnessed the valley’s transformation. To most, it looked like improvement, but some saw it as desecration. George Henry Boughton (1833–1905), Hudson River Valley from Fort Putnam, West Point, 1855. Oil on canvas. New-York Historical Society, Gift of John V. Irwin and William F. Irwin George Henry Boughton portrays the beauty of West Point’s surroundings, but he focuses on a family of tourists being regaled with the site’s grand history. West Point was prime tourist territory: the place where beautiful scenery, thrilling Revolutionary War history, and the gravitas of the nation’s foremost military academy all came together. William Wade, Panorama of the Hudson River from New York to Waterford, 1847. New-York Historical Society Library One of the great tourist guides of Hudson River history, the Panorama of the Hudson (1847) allowed steamboat and armchair travelers to consult an exquisitely detailed depiction of the river landscape. The Panorama extended from New York City to the last navigable point of the river near Troy. Guidebooks like the Panorama helped mark the Hudson as one of the nation’s special places. “America’s Rhine,” some called it, after the famous German river. Asher B. Durand (1796–1886), Adirondack Mountains, New York, ca. 1870. Oil on canvas. New-York Historical Society, Gift of Miss Nora Durand Woodman Hudson River School artist Asher B. Durand first traveled to the Adirondacks in the 1830s, accompanied by his good friend, the renowned painter Thomas Cole. Durand was drawn to the trees, believing they provided evidence of the divine on earth. By capturing the landscape’s majesty in paintings like Adirondack Mountains, New York (1870), Durand conveyed a respect for nature that lent credence to the idea of forest protection. Robert Havell Jr. (1793–1878), View of Hudson River from near Sing Sing, New York, ca. 1850. Oil on canvas. New-York Historical Society, Purchase, Watson Fund, 1971.14 Robert Havell Jr.’s view from Sing Sing shows a landscape crafted by human hands for human use. Nineteenth-century Americans called such development, “improvement.” Havell’s southward-facing scene does not show the Sing Sing quarry, where prisoners excavated stone for Grace Church in Manhattan and other prominent buildings. Verplanck Colvin, Man surveying, ca. 1890. Courtesy of Adirondack Experience, www.theadkx.org Verplanck Colvin, superintendent of the Adirondack Survey, mapped and measured the Adirondack high peaks and surrounding lakes. Colvin’s surveys established the source of the Hudson in the Adirondacks. By connecting the health of the Adirondack forests to the health of the Hudson River watershed, the surveys helped convince the New York State legislature to protect the Adirondacks from deforestation. Verplanck Colvin, Lake Tear of the Clouds, 1880. Courtesy of Adirondack Experience, www.theadkx.org Surveyor Verplanck Colvin identified the most elevated source of the Hudson in a lake atop Mt. Marcy. He named the lake Summit Water, but the name adopted was Tear of the Clouds. Colvin’s own sketches and maps embellished his survey reports. Seneca Ray Stoddard, “A Jam” Luzerne Falls, ca. 1885. Courtesy of Adirondack Experience, www.theadkx.org One of the influential voices who called on New York State to protect the Adirondack forests and the Hudson watershed by creating an enormous park was photographer Seneca Ray Stoddard. He had climbed the high peaks with surveyor Colvin Verplanck. Stoddard’s photographs informed politicians and the public about the dangers posed by deforestation. Seneca Ray Stoddard, The Choppers, 1885. Courtesy of Adirondack Experience, www.theadkx.org In 1885, New York State responded to concerns by regulating logging within a new forest preserve on state owned lands. In 1892, legislators enlarged the preserve with private lands and created the 2.8 million acre Adirondack Park. Seneca Ray Stoddard, Blue Mountain Tramps, ca. 1890. Courtesy of Adirondack Experience, www.theadkx.org Stoddard made his case for forest conservation with his photographs. His special talk to state legislators in 1892 helped to precipitate creation of Adirondack Park. Stoddard had honed his skills during years of tourism photography in his native Hudson Valley. His bestselling guidebook The Adirondacks: Illustrated (1874) is still in print today. Sight-Seeing in Palisades Interstate Park. New-York Historical Society Library The destruction of the cliffs of the Palisades— whose rock was blasted away to make roads and concrete foundations—troubled many, including a number of well-to-do neighbors whose mansions overlooked the Palisades. The New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs took up the cause. The year was 1896 and women could not yet vote. So the members organized a grassroots lobbying campaign to stop companies from blasting the Palisades to bits. The American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society joined the battle in the interests of scenic beauty and local history. They, too, lobbied, and were heard by New York’s conservationist governor Theodore Roosevelt. Photo Tour, Palisades Interstate Park. Courtesy of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission Archives In 1900, a Palisades Interstate Park Commission was formed, authorized to acquire the cliffs and turn the Palisades into a park. By the time Palisades Park officially opened in 1909, it was already a destination. Fishermen, ca. 1960s. Photo, Patterson Shafer. Courtesy of Riverkeeper In the 1960s, the Hudson was a hostile environment for fish. Untreated sewage flowed into the river, depleting oxygen levels and leaving fish unable to breathe. Contaminants poisoned them. The nuclear power plant at Indian Point sucked millions into plant pipes and spewed lethally hot water back into the river. Local fishermen realized the fish were dying and sounded the alarm. A superimposed drawing of the proposed Greene County Nuclear Power Plant, Athens site, as seen from Parade Hill, city of Hudson. Courtesy of Harvey Flad Artist Frederick Edwin Church frequently painted this view from his home, Olana, making it an icon of the Hudson River School of art. When a nuclear power plant promised to intrude in the view in the early 1970s, citizen-led groups protested. In order to determine the importance of the view, mock- ups were prepared with the plant’s cooling tower and plume obviously drawn in. The public’s responses, recorded in surveys, helped convince government authorities that the plant would have an unacceptable negative impact on the scenic and historic character of Olana—a place determined to be of national significance. No license for the plant was issued. Riverkeeper John Cronin, 1983. Photo, Don Nice. Courtesy of Riverkeeper Beginning in 1972, the Hudson River Fishermen’s Association began a “Riverkeeper” program to patrol the river. Ten years later, Riverkeeper John Cronin and his boat were monitoring the river full-time. On Cronin’s first day, he confronted an Exxon tanker discharging polluted ballast water into the river. In 1986, the Hudson River Fishermen’s Association merged with its Riverkeeper program to form one group to protect the river. .