Frederic Church's Olana on the Hudson: Art, Landscape, Architecture

Description

Frederic Edwin Church, the central figure in a group of artists known as the Hudson River School, made his name as a painter of monumental landscapes of New England, South America, and the Arctic. The landscape imagery he painted in the 1840s and 1850s helped shape not only the cultural identity of a new and burgeoning nation, but also of himself when he applied his vision as an artist to the house and property that he named Olana, known today as Olana State Historic Site, located just outside of Hudson, New York, in the heart of the beautiful Hudson River Valley. Spectacular photography by Larry Lederman of Olana, its landscape and house, inside and out, illustrates one of Church's greatest works of art. The images, many taken especially for this book, have been shot in all seasons and all weather, and include panoramic and aerial views, sunsets, detail shots of both the house and landscape, as well as interior views of the house. Essays will delve into Church and his inspirations and motivations, illuminating not only the estate he built but also his work as an artist. Church was an observer of the cosmos, and Olana, set in the center of the Hudson River Valley, was his laboratory of observation of all of nature: the sky, the land, the seasons, and the details of everything from flora and fauna and water features, particularly when set in the context of the great naturalist Alexander von Humboldt.

Eleanor Jones Harvey is a senior curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, and author and coauthor of many books, including Hudson River School Visions, The Civil War and American Art, and The Painted Sketch. Julia Rosenbaum is a professor of art history and faculty of the American Studies Program at Bard, as well as a senior fellow at the Smithsonian Institution. She is the director of research and publications at The Olana Partnership. Karen Zukowski is an art historian specializing in late nineteenth-century American fine and decorative arts. She is a curator at Olana State Historic Site and a member of the board of The Olana Partnership. Larry Lederman is a member of the board of The Olana Partnership and has been photographing landscapes for fifteen years. He is the author of Magnificent Trees of the New York Botanical Garden and coauthor of The Rockefeller Family Gardens. His work has been exhibited at the Ross Gallery at NYBG and is included in public and private collections.

"While the beauty of Frederic Church's Hudson Valley estate Olana is stunning in person, this book lets the arm-chair visitor experience the paintings, landscape and historic house that were all part of Church's artistic vision. Essays from specialists like a curator, historian and architect explore all aspects of the 19th century artist's work, while reproductions of dozens of his paintings juxtaposed with the views he created in the landscape make clear the grand work he carefully cultivated around him." -Brownstoner