Frederic Edwin Church: Fame & the Hudson River School

Sometimes on the PBS' Antique Roadshow there will be a pastoral scene of water and a valley. The appraiser will say, "This is from the Hudson River School." However, it wasn't an actual school. It was a group of mid-19th century landscape painters of great talent who were inspired by the area around the Hudson River. It was a matter of artists capturing pastoral scenes which were quickly vanishing. 

Arguably, the most famous painter of that style was Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900). With an eye for drawing detail, he apprenticed for two years with the "school's" founder. By age 20, he sold his first painting for $130 ($4700 in today's dollar!) At age 22, he was elected the youngest member of the National Academy of Design.

 In time, Church would widen his subjects by travel. He not only traveled through the eastern USA, but also went several times to South America. His method would be to sketch all the detail on site and then use these sketches and his memory to recreate large paintings in his studio. It was such a trip with an Arctic explorer that led to his dynamic, "The Icebergs."

His paintings were so large that they were shown with the bottom of the frame on the floor. Viewers paid an entry free and sat on benches to see the entire painting. In this way, Church re-created the view as if looking out the window at the scene. 

Church was a very successful artist, both in recognition 

 and financially. He took his family to Europe and the Middle East where he found more influence in Greece architecture than in the art of Italy and France. On his return, he purchased 18 acres where he supervised the building of a hilltop home ("Olana") and enjoy the magnificent views of the Hudson River. (His home is conserved as the Olana State Historic Site. You can purchase tickets to view his home & studio.*) 

Alas, as often happens with time, Church's art was considered dated. However, post WW2, some 45 years after his passing, the interest in his works would be revived by an exhibit titled, "Hudson River School" at the Art Institute of Chicago. Today, his works sell in the millions.

*(There is an award established by the Olana Partnership in the name of Frederic Church to individuals and organizations that make extraordinary contributions to art and culture.)

The Unrecognized Artists...

Last week's blog was about the modern day influences of the Hudson River School - a pastoral art movement of the mid-19th century.

The movement included names such as Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church and Albert Bierstadt. What you don't hear about - even in Wikipedia - are the names of the women artists in the movement. The question is: why not?

The answer is reminiscent of the same circumstances that surrounded the women Impressionists artists. (Archives: Morisot - Jan. 2010).Women were excluded from the academies and did not have access to wealthy patrons. Some were actually forbidden to make art and came to art later in their lives. Some were the wives, mothers, sisters and daughters of their highly recognized male artists and were not able to compete. (Portrait of Eliza Greatorex above.)

Now, recognition of these gifted artists is beginning to happen. There have been recent museum exhibits and an article in the Smithsonian magazine on these talented women.

These were women who hiked in long skirts and corsets through the mountains and cliffs to paint, etch, photograph and embroider images of the landscapes. Many of these women traveled throughout the east and went even south all the way to Florida for the opportunity to paint the countryside and waterways in the Hudson River School style.

Here are some of the women whose names are finally being recognized:

Laura Woodward (1834-1926)

Harriet Cany Peale (1800-1869)

Elizabeth Gilbert Jerome (1824-1910)

Susie Barstow (1857-1934)

Julia Hart Beers (1835-1913)

Eliza Greatorex (1819-1897)

Stephen Hannock: A Throwback to Another Time... or Not

Sometimes on the PBS' Antique Roadshow there will be a pastoral scene of water and a valley. The appraiser will say, "This is from the Hudson River School." However, it wasn't an actual school. It was a group of mid-19th century landscape painters of great talent who were inspired by the area around the Hudson River. (On the left is a work by Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900), arguably the most famous artist of this style and subject.)

In time, this style of work was considered too realistic and romantic. Then along came Stephen Hannock. (1951-)



Stephen Hannock is often described as a throwback to that Hudson River School. You might agree based on the image below. Hannock paints pastoral scenes with the luminescence and large dimensions of those 19th century painters. Yet, his techniques are modern and, upon closer viewing, there is something else.



With regards to the technique, Hannock doesn't like the way light plays on the paint ridges and so he sands them down - with an electric sander - between paint layers in order to achieve the luminosity. The "something else" is text. Hannock embeds text of his thoughts and recollections in the vista. On the left is an entire painting and on the right is a close up with barely discernible text.




Do his techniques and text make him uniquely modern or is he really a throwback to the Hudson River School because his subject and ultimate works are so highly reminiscent of those painters?

If you go to his website by clicking here Hannock's site shows areas of a painting where he has placed text. If you click on those areas you can see more distinct examples of his writing.