Celebrating Women of the Hudson River School

The Thomas Cole National Historic Site will present “Remember the Ladies: Women Artists of the Hudson River School”, believed to be the first exhibition ever to focus solely on women artists associated with the 19th century landscape painting movement. The exhibition, which opens on May 8, 2010 is co-curated by Jennifer C. Krieger, of Hawthorne Fine Art in Manhattan and Nancy Siegel, Associate Professor of Art History at Towson University, Towson, MD.

“Remember the Ladies: Women Artists of the Hudson River School” will feature approximately 25 works including paintings, embroidered landscapes, photography, and drawing manuals by artists, such as Julia Hart Beers (sister to William and James Hart), Evelina Mount (niece to William Sidney Mount), Susie Barstow, Eliza Greatorex, Harriet Cany Peale, and Josephine Walters among others. The paintings of Thomas Cole’s sister, Sara Cole, and her daughter Emily Cole will also be on view.

By the turn of the 19th century, schools, seminaries, and private instructors were already providing artistic education for young women, particularly in the art of landscape painting. Women traveled in increasing numbers to experience the American landscape and wrote of their adventures poetically. “Remember the Ladies” seeks to increase awareness of a previously little-celebrated but highly-talented and accomplished group of women artists associated with the well-known Hudson River School.

Following its stay at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site the exhibition will travel to Hawthorne Fine Art in the fall of 2010. Plans are underway by Siegel and Krieger to develop a more extensive version of the exhibition to travel nationally.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a printed catalogue with full-color illustrations co-written by Krieger and Dr. Siegel. The title of the exhibition is taken from a letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams in 1776: “I desire you would Remember the Ladies… if particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion.”

The Thomas Cole Historic Site is located at 218 Spring Street in Catskill, New York. For information regarding the exhibition and directions, call 518-943-7465 or visit www.thomascole.org.

Illustration: Mary Blood Mellen (1817-1882) &#8220Field Beach, c1850s&#8221 Oil on canvas on board, 24 x 33 15/16 in. Cape Ann Museum, Gift of Jean Stanley Dise, 1970.2019-2

Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region Deadline Near

The entry deadline for the 2010 Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region Juried Exhibition, which will be held at The Hyde Collection this fall, is Friday, March 26, 2010.

Founded in 1936, the exhibition is one of the longest running annual juried exhibitions in the country. The Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region highlights the finest work by contemporary artists working along the Mohawk-Hudson corridor. This is the first year that The Hyde Collection will host the exhibition, which will be on display from October 1 through January 2, 2011.

Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region rotates among three venues. The other two hosts are The Albany Institute of History and Art and the University Art Museum, University at Albany, State University of New York.

Juror for the 2010 exhibition is Charles Desmarais, Deputy Director for Art at the Brooklyn Museum. Desmarais leads a staff of eighteen curators and manages the collection, conservation, education, exhibition, and library departments at the Museum. He previously served as director of the Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati and was director of the Laguna Art Museum and the California Museum of Photography at the University of California.

Works in a variety of media may be entered and approximately fifty will be selected for the exhibition. Eligible artists include those who reside within a 100-mile radius of either Glens Falls or the Capital Region. Awards will be announced at the exhibition’s opening reception scheduled for October 1, 2010 and a color catalogue will be produced for the exhibition.

Links to entry forms and additional information are available on the Museum’s homepage at www.hydecollection.org.

Upcoming Events at Olana State Historic Site

The Olana New York State Historic Site, a National Historic Landmark, and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Hudson Valley and upstate New York has announced a series of upcoming events.

Named for a fortress treasure-house in ancient Persia, Olana was the home of Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900), one of America’s most important artists, a student of Thomas Cole, and a major figure in the Hudson River School of landscape painting. Olana stands high on a hill near Hudson, New York and offers sweeping vistas of the Catskill Mountains, the Hudson River and the Taconic Hills.

Family Tour at Olana
Saturday, March 13, 11:30AM

Explore the house, its paintings and treasures from a child’s perspective. Tours are geared for families with 6-12 year olds, but all ages are welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Reservations are required by 4PM the preceding Friday. Call (518) 828-0135 for information. $9/adult- $8/students and seniors, free for children under 12 and members of The Olana Partnership.

First Spring Weekend Hike
Sunday, March 21, 1PM

Celebrate the first weekend of spring (and the Vernal Equinox) by getting outside for a little fresh air. Pre-registration required by 4PM the Wednesday preceding. Dress for the weather and meet in front of the Visitor Center.

Local Flora and Fauna: Nature Photography
Monday, March 22, 10AM-12PM

Larry Federman, Assistant Warden/Educator for Audubon New York’s Rheinstrom Hill, Buttercup Farm, RamsHorn-Livingston Audubon Centers and Sanctuaries offers this exciting lecture on the flora and fauna of our community. In the course of daily routines, Larry always has a camera with him at Audubon sites- now you can too discover the plants and animals that call these sanctuaries home through his incidental photos. After the presentation we’ll head out for a landscape walk- bring your binoculars and cameras! Children sized binoculars and sketch pads will be available for borrow. Come out and capture the first of spring. All ages. Free. Meet at Olana’s Wagon House Education Center. Register: [email protected] or (518) 828-1872 ext. 110.

Green Gardening
Friday, March 26, 2-4PM

Spring is almost here! Watch your own kitchen garden grow: come to Olana’s farm complex to create your own fairy garden to bring home. Plant herb, vegetable and/or flower seeds in recyclable/re-used containers and then decorate your garden pots with art supplies inspired by Olana. Ages 3-5 and their caregivers. Free. Register: [email protected] or call (518) 828-1872 x110.

Family Tour at Olana
Saturday, March 27, 11:30AM

Explore the house, its paintings and treasures from a child’s perspective. Tours are geared for families with 6-12 year olds, but all ages are welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Reservations are required by 4PM the preceding Friday. Call (518) 828-0135 for information. $9/adult- $8/students and seniors, free for children under 12 and members of The Olana Partnership.

Landscape Yoga
Sunday, March 28, 3-4PM

Does your New Year’s resolution include time for well-being? Nourish body and soul this winter in our education center that has radiant floor heating! This gentle yoga class will bring the inspiring picturesque landscape views inside, celebrating the spirituality of nature. Yoga instructor Ed Sisk from the Yoga With Ed studio in Hudson, NY will provide mats and modification tools, or you are welcome to bring your own. $10/adult- $5/member. Space is limited. Register: (518).828.1872 x110.

April Fools Olana!
Thursday, April 1 – Sunday, April 4

Tours at 11AM, 1PM and 3PM daily

Olana’s been pranked! Objects that just don’t fit in are scattered throughout the house, some better hidden than others. Bring the family and see who has the sharpest eye. Admission is free for members of The Olana Partnership. $9/adult- $8/students and seniors, free for children under 12. Standard tours available on the hour and half hour except for the times listed above. Call (518) 828-0135 for information.

FIRST FRIDAYS SERIES:

April 2 (Also May 7, June 4)

Easy Tai chi, 10:00AM-12PM
Tap into the spirituality of nature (like a Hudson River School artist but without the paint)! Tai chi is a mind-body practice that originated in China as a martial art. The body moves slowly and gently, while breathing deeply and meditating. Many practitioners believe that Tai chi helps the flow throughout the body of a proposed vital energy called qi, increasing our wellness. Join John Middlebrooks (Omega Institute) as he guides you in this intro class. Classes will meet at the education center- if weather permits we will practice out in the landscape that day. Please attend all three classes as they go in sequence and allow time for practice. Space is limited- register by the preceding Thursday: [email protected] (518)828- 1872&#215-110. Wagon House Education Center/Farm Complex. Adults. Free.

Visual Arts Workshop, 1-3PM

Retired? Ready to finally explore your love of art? It is never too late! Adults with little or no formal art training will realize that creating art can be accomplished through a variety of materials and techniques. Create a work of art in a safe setting with new friends, providing a personal sense of accomplishment and ownership. Wagon House Education Center/Farm Complex. Adults (50+). Free. Register: [email protected] or (518) 828-1872 x110.

MyStory in History: Contemporary Art in a Historical World, 4-5PM

Use the life of Frederic Church and his home, Olana, as inspiration, to take a new look at the world. In this mixed media after school drop-off art class lead by local art teacher Claudia Brehse, you will begin to think about the importance of art as a form of communication, about the “message of the medium” and why people collect and create art. Students will work in the studio to create the newest history- the history of you. Great for homeschoolers or teen art club members. Register: [email protected] or (518) 828-1872 x110.

Landscape Yoga, 5:30-6:30PM

This gentle yoga class will bring the inspiring picturesque landscape views inside. Celebrate the spirituality of nature with yoga instructor Ed Sisk from the Yoga With Ed studio in Hudson, NY. Mats and modification tools will be provided- you are welcome to bring your own. Space is limited. Free. Register: [email protected] or (518).828.1872&#215-110.

Educator Tour
Tuesday, April 6, 10am

Join area educators for a tour with Olana’s Director of Education. Discussion will include history as well as practical application, and participants are invited to sit down together after the tour to discuss content and classroom applications. Educator resources will be available. Reservations are required by 4pm Monday, April 5th. Regular tour rates apply, $9/adult, $8 student/senior. Call 518.828.0135 to reserve a space.

Two New Collections Available at The Mets Archive

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives has announced that two recently processed collections from the first half of the 20th century, the records of a curator in the Decorative Arts department Durr Friedley and those of former president William Church Osborn, are now open for scholarly research. The newly available collections include online finding aids.

Durr Friedley Records, 1906-1918
Durr Friedley was a staff member of the Department of Decorative Arts of The Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1911 until 1917, serving as an assistant, Assistant Curator and Acting Curator. Records consist primarily of correspondence regarding prospective Museum acquisitions. Items of special interest include letters concerning the Museum’s acquisition of early American colonial furnishings, later displayed in the American Wing. A pdf finding aid is located here.

William Church Osborn Records, 1904-1953
William Church Osborn was a longtime trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art who also served as the institution’s Vice President, President and Honorary President. Records consist primarily of correspondence regarding all aspects of Museum operations including acquisitions, exhibitions, fundraising, buildings and trustee affairs.
A pdf finding aid is located here.

The objective of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives is to collect, organize, and preserve in perpetuity the corporate records and official correspondence of the Museum, to make the collection accessible and provide research support, and to further an informed and enduring understanding of the Museum’s history. Archives holdings include Board of Trustees records, legal documents, Museum publications, office files of selected Museum staff, architectural drawings, press clippings, and ephemera. The Archives is accessible to Museum staff and to qualified scholarly researchers at the graduate level and above. Requests for access should be sent via email, and should include a brief summary of the research project, an outline of sources already consulted and a curriculum vitae or resume. Access is granted at the discretion of Archives staff, and certain materials may be restricted.

Viva Woman! at Brooklyn Museums March 6

The Brooklyn Museum’s First Saturdays events attract thousands of visitors to free programs of art and entertainment each month. March’s First Saturday celebrates the talent and power of women throughout history. Highlights include the new exhibition Kiki Smith: Sojourn on view in the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art- a special performance by renowned Haitian vocalist Emeline Michel- a screening of Deepa Mehta’s Water- a discussion by author Staceyann Chin of her new book The Other Side of Paradise- and a dance party hosted by DJ Mary Mac.

SCHEDULE OF PROGRAMS

5 p.m. Gallery Tour
Join a Museum Guide for a tour of the exhibition To Live Forever: Art and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt.

5-11 p.m. Object of the Month
Spend some time with the sculpture Mother with Child in the African galleries. A special activity takes place in front of the artwork at 8 p.m.

6-8 p.m. Music
Emeline Michel blends Haitian compas, twoubadou, and rara with jazz and other types of world music. Part of the Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert Series.

6-8:30 p.m. Film
Water (Deepa Mehta, 2005, 117 min., PG-13) examines the plight of a group of widows forced into poverty at a temple in the holy city of Varanasi, India, in 1938. A question-and-answer session with Gayatri Gopinath, Associate Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at New York University, follows the screening. Free timed tickets are available at the Visitor Center at 5:30 p.m.

6:30-8:30 p.m. Hands-On Art
Create a clay figure inspired by one of history’s powerful women. Free timed tickets are available at the Visitor Center at 5:30 p.m.

7 p.m. Curator Talk
Yekaterina Barbash, Assistant Curator of Egyptian Art, highlights images of women and goddesses in the exhibition Body Parts: Ancient Egyptian Fragments and Amulets. Free timed tickets are available at the Visitor Center at 6 p.m.

7-8 p.m. Discussion
Filmmaker Barbara Hammer talks about her new book Hammer! and her involvement in the feminist movement. Free timed tickets are available at the Visitor Center at 6 p.m.

8 p.m. Curator Talk
Catherine Morris, Curator of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, discusses Kiki Smith and her work. Sign Language-interpreted. Free timed tickets are available at the Visitor Center at 7 p.m.

8:30 p.m. Young Voices Gallery Talk
Student Guides on female figures throughout the ancient Egyptian collection.

9 p.m. Book Club
Jamaican performance artist Staceyann Chin discusses her memoir, The Other Side of Paradise.

9-11 p.m. Dance Party
DJ Mary Mac hosts a dance party highlighting the queens of hip-hop and soul.

Throughout the evening, a cash bar will offer beer and wine, and the Museum Cafe will serve a wide variety of sandwiches, salads, and beverages. The Museum Shop will remain open until 11 p.m.

Some First Saturday programs have limited space and must be ticketed- lines for free tickets often form 30 minutes in advance. Programs are subject to change without notice. Museum admission is free after 5 p.m. Museum galleries are open until 11 p.m. Parking is a flat rate of $4 from 5 to 11 p.m.

For more information, visit www.brooklynmuseum.org.

Photo: Staceyann Chin. Photo Courtesy of the Artist

Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region Call For Entries

The Hyde Collection announces the call for entries associated with the 2010 Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region Juried Exhibition, which will be on view at the Museum from October 1 through December 12, 2010.

Founded in 1936, the exhibition is one of the longest running annual juried exhibitions in the country. The Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region highlights the finest works of contemporary artists working along the Mohawk-Hudson corridor.

This is the first year that The Hyde Collection will host the exhibition, which rotates among three venues. The other two hosts are The Albany Institute of History and Art and the University Art Museum at the University at Albany.

Juror for the 2010 exhibition is Charles Desmarais, deputy director of art at the Brooklyn Museum. Desmarais leads a staff of eighteen curators and manages the collection, conservation, education, exhibition, and library departments at the museum. He previously served as director of the Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati and was director of the Laguna Art Museum and the California Museum of Photography at the University of California.

&#8220The Hyde is thrilled to join the two Albany institutions in bringing the best of our region’s art to residents and visitors alike,” said Hyde Executive Director David F. Setford. &#8220Each year, the caliber of works submitted for this annual show is testament to the artistic community that thrives in the areas surrounding the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers.”

As many as 300 artists are expected to submit works, in a variety of media, from which approximately fifty will be selected for the exhibition. Eligible artists include those who reside within a 100-mile radius of either Glens Falls or the Capital Region. The deadline for entries is March 26, 2010. Awards will be announced at the exhibition’s opening reception scheduled for October 1, 2010.

Artists interested in receiving information on the exhibition are asked to call (518) 792-1761 ext. 35. Submission entry forms and additional information are available on the Museum’s website at www.hydecollection.org.

Brooklyn Museum To Host Major Andy Warhol Exhibit

Andy Warhol: The Last Decade is the title of a major touring exhibition that will run June 18 to September 12, 2010 at the Brooklyn Museum (Robert E. Blum Gallery, 1st floor, and Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing, 5th floor). The exhibit is the first U.S. museum survey to examine the late works of American artist Andy Warhol (1928–1987). With nearly fifty works, the exhibition reveals the artist’s vitality, energy, and renewed spirit of experimentation. During this time Warhol produced more works, in a considerable number of series and on a vastly larger scale, than at any other point in his forty-year career.

It was a decade of great artistic development for Warhol, during which a dramatic transformation of his style took place alongside the introduction of new techniques. He continued to create his screen-printed portraits, but he also reengaged with
painting. In the late 1970s, Warhol developed a new interest in abstraction, first with his Oxidations and Shadows series, and later with his Yarn, Rorschach, and Camouflage paintings. His return to the hand-painted image in the 1980s was inspired by collaborations with Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francesco Clemente, and Keith Haring.
The exhibition concludes with Warhol’s variations on Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, one of the largest series of his career. Andy Warhol: The Last Decade provides an important framework for understanding Warhol’s work by looking at how he simultaneously incorporated the screened image and pursued a reinvention of
painting.

The exhibit is being organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum. The exhibition was
curated by Joseph D. Ketner II, Henry and Lois Foster Chair of Contemporary Art, Emerson College, Boston. The Brooklyn Museum presentation is organized by Sharon Matt Atkins, Associate Curator of Exhibitions, Brooklyn Museum.

A catalogue published by Prestel accompanies this exhibition.

Tour: Milwaukee Art Museum, September 26, 2009–January 3, 2010- Museum of Modern Art, Fort Worth, February 14–May 16, 2010- Baltimore Museum of Art, October 17, 2010–January 9, 2011.

Photo: Andy Warhol at the Jimmy Carter White House during a reception for inaugural portfolio artists in 1977. Courtesy the National Archives.

Hyde Collection Announces 2010 Exhibition Schedule

The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls has announced its 2010 Exhibition Schedule. This year’s schedule includes American Impressionist landscape paintings, twentieth-century Modern art, a regional juried high school art show, a major exhibition of the work of Andrew Wyeth, and the museum will also play host for the first time to the long-running Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region, an annual juried show founded in 1936. The complete schedule from the Hyde Collection announcement is below.

Through Sunday, March 28, 2010
An Enduring Legacy:
American Impressionist Landscape Paintings from the Thomas Clark Collection

This exhibition presents sixty-four paintings from the private collection of Saratoga
County, New York resident Thomas Clark. For twenty years, Clark has been amassing a significant group of pre-1940 American Impressionist landscape paintings with more than 100 works in the collection. Considered one of the finest private collections of this genre in upstate New York, it is testament to the enduring legacy of Impressionist painting in American art.

The collection, on public display for the first time, comprises examples from the last
great generation of landscape painters who emerged during, and in the aftermath of, the American Impressionist movement (1880-1920). Many of these artists were students and/or sketching partners of the seminal figures in Impressionism in America, such as William Merritt Chase and John Henry Twachtman. The Collection offers a comprehensive treatment of the regional schools of Impressionist activity in America. Forty-seven artists are featured in the exhibition, including Walter Emerson Baum, John Joseph Enneking, Emile A. Gruppe, Hayley Lever, Frederick Mulhaupt, George Loftus Noyes, and Harry A. Vincent. The exhibition is curated by Erin Coe, chief curator and deputy director of The Hyde Collection and is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue. Clark has announced his intention to make a future donation of his remarkable collection to The Hyde where it will greatly enhance the Museum’s current holdings of American art.

Through February 28, 2010
Divided by a common language?
British and American Works from the Murray Collection

Approximately twenty works of twentieth-century Modern art, donated to the Museum by the late Jane Murray, are on display in Hoopes Gallery. Works included in this exhibition were part of the first significant donation of twentieth-century art received by The Hyde and helped to form the foundation of the Museum’s Modernist holdings. Jane Murray passed away in April 2009 and bequeathed the remainder of her substantial collection to the Museum.

Curated by The Hyde’s Executive Director David F. Setford, the exhibition reflects one woman’s journey into the world of art and the creative process itself. Represented in the exhibition are British artists including Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, John Piper, Howard Hodgkin, and Paul Mount. American artists include Gregory Amenoff, American, b. 1948, Gregory Amenoff, Betty Parsons, Stuart Davis, and Ellsworth Kelly. The works selected examine the similarities and differences between American and British works of the period, as both are areas of particular strength in the Murray
Murray Collection.

April 11 through May 23
Nineteenth Regional Juried High School Art Show

The Hyde proudly hosts one hundred works in various media by the best of area high
school art students. Entries into the competition average approximately 1,200 per year
and the top 100 works were chosen by jurors to be highlighted in this annual spring event, showcased in the Museum’s Charles R. Wood Gallery.

This unique show allows participating students to experience the preparation, submission, and jurying process crucial to their artistic development. The young artists entering the competition hail from as many as forty area schools located in Warren, Washington, Saratoga, Hamilton, and Essex counties.

June 12 through September 5
Andrew Wyeth: An American Legend

The Hyde Collection introduces the broad span of work by Andrew Wyeth in its major summer exhibition for 2010. Organized by The Hyde and curated by Executive Director David F. Setford and Deputy Director and Chief Curator Erin B. Coe in association with the Farnsworth Art Museum of Rockland, Maine, the exhibition will mark the first opportunity since the artist’s death in 2009 to begin to critically reevaluate his contribution to and position in American art of the twentieth century. Works will include pencil, watercolor, dry brush, and tempera works, and will feature sections devoted to early coastal watercolors and landscape paintings, as well as a look at Wyeth’s models, his interest in vernacular architecture, and his connection
with the Regionalist tradition and Magic Realism.

The exhibition will feature approximately fifty works, with the core from the Farnsworth Art Museum. Also on view will be The Hyde’s own Wyeth – The Ledge and the Island, 1937 – and major works from Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Hood Museum of Art, as well as from other museums and private collections.

The Museum continues its summer collaborations with other arts organizations in the region by coordinating a series of lectures, exhibitions, and performances with Wyeth-related themes.

October 10 through December 12
Exhibition by Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region

For the first time, The Hyde Collection is host of the Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region, one of the longest-running collaborative juried exhibitions in the country. The Museum joins the Albany Institute of History and Art and the University Art Museum at the University at Albany as the third collaborative sponsor of the exhibition, which is hosted by the organizations on a rotating basis. Founded in 1936, this annual show provides a leading benchmark for contemporary art in the Upper Hudson Valley. The exhibition is open to artists residing within a 100-mile radius of either Glens Falls or the Capital District. Past jurors have included artists, curators, critics, art historians, and art dealers such as Edward Hopper (1941), George Rickey (1971), Kenneth Noland (1977), Wolf Kahn (1980), Grace Gluck (1984), Dan Cameron (1997), and Ivan Karp (2005).

For the 2010 exhibition, The Hyde has invited Charles Desmarais, the Deputy Director of Art at the Brooklyn Museum, to be the guest juror. Mr. Desmarais leads the Brooklyn Museum’s collection, conservation, education, exhibition, and library departments.

Photo: George Loftus Noyes, American, 1864-1954, River Reflections, Evening ca. 1900, Oil on canvas on artist’s board, 9 7/8 x 11 in., Promised gift of Thomas Clark to The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY.

Hyde Collection Announces New Board Members

The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, Warren County, has announced new members and 2010 officers of its board of trustees. New to the Museum board are Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy- Joseph F. Raccuia, president and CEO of Finch Paper, LLC- and Leo A. Rigby, CPA, Partner in Ross Rigby & Patten LLP.

Dr. Jackson, who has led Rensselaer since 1999, has held senior leadership positions in government, business, and academe. She serves on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Prior to her leadership of Rensselaer, Dr. Jackson served as chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (1995-1999). She holds a Ph.D. in theoretical elementary particle physics and a S.B. in physics from M.I.T.

Joseph Raccuia joined Finch Paper in February 2009 after serving as president and CEO of SCA Tissue-North America. A twenty-five year veteran of the paper industry, Raccuia began his career in the Glens Falls area with the former Encore Paper Company in South Glens Falls. A resident of Wilton, he holds a B.A. in business administration and earned his MBA from Wagner College.

Leo Rigby is vice president and treasurer of Ross Rigby & Patten LLP, and the partner in charge of accounting and auditing services. He is a graduate of Clarkson University and a certified information systems auditor. Rigby is vice president of the Glens Falls Rotary Club and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Leading the 2010 board of trustees as chairman is Alan E. Redeker, who has been a member of The Hyde’s board of trustees for seven years and has most recently served the organization’s board vice chairman in 2009. Redeker is principal of Redeker Management Consulting, LLC and past president of Glens Falls Lehigh Cement Company. He succeeds Beth Saunders, who concluded her one-year term as chairman and will continue to serve The Hyde as immediate past chairman and as a trustee.

Officers for 2010 include Candace Wait as vice chairman, Dr. Michael J. Gardner as treasurer, and Michael S. Rapaport, Esq. as secretary. Wait, who joined the Museum’s board in 2004 is program director for The Corporation of Yaddo in Saratoga Springs. Gardner has been on the board for two years and is immediate past president of Prime Care Physicians in Albany, NY. Rapaport, a trustee since 2004, is a partner in Rapaport Brothers PC of New York, NY and Lake George, NY.

Thomas Cole House Hosts Sunday Salons

Sunday Salons are gatherings at the home of Thomas Cole, with guest speakers leading discussions on topics relating to the Hudson River School, America’s first major art movement. The public is invited for wine, cheese, and lively conversation once per month at Cedar Grove, the birthplace of American landscape painting. Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $8 per person or $6 for members. Admission is first-come-first-served.

During the reception following each talk, a new exhibition will be on view in the 2nd floor Beecher Gallery, displaying historic wallpapers from the collection of Michael Levinson. The exhibition explores Thomas Cole’s work as a young man in the wallpaper business, demonstating the types of designs he might have been exposed to and influenced by.

January 10 Patricia Junker
Sacred to the Memory of Thomas Cole: Charles Herbert Moore and his Views of Cedar Grove

Patricia Junker, Curator of American Art at the Seattle Art Museum, explores Charles Herbert Moore’s affection for Thomas Cole, evident in his captivating paintings of Cole’s house and studio. Moore rented Cole’s studio in the early 1860s, making Catskill a meeting place for a new generation of landscape painters. While much has been made of the Pre-Raphaelites’ dismissal of Cole’s visionary tendencies, Moore warmly embraced his memory. The artist who worked in Cole’s studio could not help but evoke the late artist’s spirit—enlisting the language of Cole’s art to create richly symbolic landscape compositions.

February 7 Katherine Manthorne
Eliza Pratt Greatorex: “First Artist of Her Sex in America”*

Katherine Manthorne, Professor of Modern Art of the Americas (1750-1950) at City University of New York, reveals highlights from her upcoming biography on one of the most fascinating, least-known Hudson River School painters: Eliza Pratt Greatorex. Focusing on her extraordinary life – the first female to be admitted to the National Academy of Design, one of the first artists to capture images of New York City’s historic sites before they were destroyed, and a world traveler who made her living as an artist/teacher while raising her children by herself – this talk is a wonderful prelude to our 2010 exhibition, “Remember the Ladies: Women of the Hudson River School.” The title of the talk is a phrase dubbed by a 19th-century critic.

March 14 Linda S. Ferber
The Hudson River School: Nature and the American Vision

Linda S. Ferber, Senior Art Historian and Museum Director Emerita of the New-York Historical Society, and former Chair of the Department of American Art at the Brooklyn Museum, returns to the Cole House with her new book, The Hudson River School: Nature and the American Vision. Capturing the New-York Historical Society’s world-renowned Hudson River School collection in book form for the first time, Dr. Ferber’s book features all the greatest artists of the group including Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Church, Thomas Cole, Jasper Cropsey, Asher B. Durand, Sanford Gifford, and John F. Kensett. One of the Cole House’s most popular speakers, Dr. Ferber will sign copies of her book after her talk.

April 11 Stephen Hannock
Thomas Cole with a Power Sander

One of the most exciting artists of our time – called “the consummate landscape painter” – Stephen Hannock began his artistic career near the site of Thomas Cole’s famous 1836 painting, the Oxbow. Cole has been “a reference point” for Hannock, whose virtuosic use of light &#8211 as well as a power sander &#8211 has landed his paintings in museum collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Art Historian Jason Rosenfeld describes Hannock’s work as &#8220both distinctively modern as well as reflective of landscape traditions&#8230-.Hannock, in his radical technique is a true American luminist. His paintings, multi-layered in both surface and meaning, radiate in a manner that connects past and present.&#8221 After his talk, Mr. Hannock will sign copies of his new monograph.