Hudson River School Masterpieces The Wadsworth Atheneum Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford CT. Huntington Gallery, Installation Shot. Hudson River School Collection. HARTFORD, CT - The Wadsworth Atheneum recently completed a large-scale reinstallation of its famed Hudson River School collection, considered the finest of its kind held by any museum. The more than 30-piece installation will be housed in the museum’s newly renovated Huntington Gallery—prominently placed just off the museum’s entrance—for the next two years. Centered mainly on the paintings of Frederic Church and Thomas Cole, the Hudson River School exhibition will also include Cole’s Life, Death and Immortality, painted in 1844 and recently acquired by the museum. Previously unidentified, the painting can be traced back to a letter Cole wrote to Daniel Wadsworth in 1844 imploring him to acquire a series of historical landscapes for the newly-opened Wadsworth Atheneum. Now, over 150 years later, it has made its way into the museum’s permanent collection. This painting is the only known realization of the ideas expressed in the artist’s letter and the only known work in the series—which Cole contemplated late in life but apparently never completed. The reinstallation tells the story of the formation of the collection by its two major patrons, Daniel Wadsworth (1771-1848), a devoted traveler, amateur artist, architect and founder of the Wadsworth Atheneum, and Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt (1826-1905), widow of arms manufacturer Samuel Colt. Many of the museum’s most prized Hudson River School works were commissioned directly by either Wadsworth or Colt. As a result of their patronage, the Wadsworth Atheneum’s collection is unique in that it reflects the evolving aesthetic of two generations of Hudson River School painters. Other highlights of the exhibition include Frederic Church’s Hooker and Company Journeying through the Wilderness in 1636 from Plymouth to Hartford. A pupil of Thomas Cole and a Hartford native, Church’s first major landscape depicts the founding of Connecticut and the infamous Charter Oak Tree. About The Hudson River School: The first national school of landscape art in the United States and it emerged between 1825 and 1875. Artists from the school were active in New York City and frequented the Catskill Mountain region. The bounty of nature was a frequent subject as it expressed the burgeoning nation’s hopes and aspirations. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 600 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06103, 860278-2670, www.wadsworthatheneum.org. Thomas Cole (1801-1848). Life, Death, and Immortality, 1844. Oil on wood panel. 5 7/8 x 12 in. The Dorothy Clark Archibald and Thomas L. Archibald Fund, 2008.8.1. This previously unknown oil study by Thomas Cole, which descended in the artist’s family, was recently acquired by the Wadsworth Atheneum. It is the only known realization of the ideas Cole presented in a letter to Daniel Wadsworth in 1844, expressing his concepts for a three part series entitled Life, Death, and Immortality. In the hope of convincing his great friend and patron Wadsworth to acquire this series for the newly opened Wadsworth Atheneum, Cole described his ambitions: “I have been dwelling on many subjects, and look forward to the time when I can embody them on canvass. They are subjects of a moral and religious nature. On such I think it the duty of the artist to employ his abilities: for his mission, if I may so term it, is a great and serious one. His works ought not to be a dead imitation of things, without the power to impress a sentiment, or enforce a truth.” The study for Life, Death, and Immortality is a beautifully rendered compilation of ideas that are expressed in the artist’s letter to Wadsworth. Three figures are set in a landscape. The young girl at right dressed in white represents an angel (or ‘Immortality’), with a bright star on her head, and seen holding a bouquet of flowers that have been reaped by the central figure. The young woman in the center cuts flowers with a scythe in a lush landscape, representing the agrarian ideal for which Cole longed the country to return (or ‘Life’). At the left is a figure shrouded in black holding an hourglass with a dark sky overhead (representing ‘Death’). In the background is a brilliant Catskill Mountain sunset, more in keeping with the sunsets that are associated with the landscapes of Frederic Church. NH Artists Stephen Previte & Dick Fischer Exhibition at New Hampshire Antique Co-op MILFORD, NH - New Hampshire Antique Co-op presents a collection of paintings by two accomplished local area artists, Stephen Previte and Dick Fischer, on view in the Tower Gallery from Nov. 3, 2009 through Jan. 31, 2010. Previte and Fischer both hail from the Souhegan Valley area and have exhibited widely throughout the state and beyond. A reception with the artists will be held on Saturday, Nov. 21 from 1 - 3 p.m. in the Upstairs Gallery at New Hampshire Antique Co-op. Enjoy a festive fall afternoon of art, antiques, sparkling champagne, fine cheeses and an opportunity to meet the artists. This free and open-tothe-public event is part of New Hampshire Antique Co-op’s celebration of its 26th year of family business. Established in 1983, New Hampshire Antique Co-op is one of the largest and finest group antique shops in the state, featuring more than 200 dealers showcasing fine art, period furniture, vintage wares and collectibles. The Co-op is located 1.5 miles west of the Milford Oval at 323 Elm Street/Rte.101A, Milford. For more information, call 603-6738499 or visit www.nhantiquecoop.com. Open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dick Fischer, Maine Coast, oil on linen Page 26, Northeast Antiques, November 2009 www.northeastantiques.com