Blog

A YEAR IN PICTURES: The Transformation of Olana’s Landscape in 2015

It’s rare that construction for an Olana landscape restoration project fits so perfectly within one calendar year, but Olana’s Main House Environs project demonstrates what a difference 12 short months can make. The Olana Partnership had been awarded a $343,000 New York State Environmental Protection fund grant for this project, and the design phase was completed last year. The project focused on some key landscape and architectural elements around Olana’s main house. Read More

A YEAR IN PICTURES:  The Transformation of Olana’s Landscape in 2015

Frederic Church: Collector and Shopper

“I took Mrs. C. to New York on Tuesday . . . I bought some Persian brass work two rugs a three-tined spear, Persian, an Arabian coffee pot, an Arabian Table, a piece of Persian Embroidery, a Persian Battle Axe, a silk Turban, a Moorish plate, et cetera.” Frederic Church to Erastus Dow Palmer, Nov. 14, 1878, Collection Albany Institute of History & Art Library Read More

Frederic Church: Collector and Shopper

Blooms in the Rooms

Visitors who venture in from the grey and cold for a house tour during these winter months are greeted by the warmth and cheer of a large variety of replica floral arrangements on display throughout the furnished interiors— a touchstone back to the lush, vibrant and fragrant landscape which lies just beyond the doors for most of the year. The whole of Olana can be thought of as one giant garden created in the naturalistic-style which looks so effortless, but which Church spent 40 years perfecting. But within that totality were a series of floral cutting gardens and the large kitchen garden replete with fruits and vegetables, which were a part of daily life for both the Church family and their guests. Read More

Blooms in the Rooms

Proof that Church’s “Moon in Crepuscular Rays” actually was done from Olana Hill, and is a record setting sighting of an Old Moon

What does that title mean? If you are unsure, like me, then here is an insider view of how I learned more about Frederic Church’s 1866 moon sketches, paintings, old moons, and Crepuscular Rays with the help of my colleagues and the general public! Read More

Proof that Church’s “Moon in Crepuscular Rays” actually was done from Olana Hill, and is a record setting sighting of an Old Moon

Following in Frederic’s Footsteps

When I joined as the new director, I had no questions about the artistry of Olana, but my major interests were focused on the less obvious aspects and objects of the site. Trained as a Mesoamerican archaeologist, it was the Aztec and Toltec figures in the studio, Frederic Church’s paintbrushes and palettes, and the ruins of the 18th century farmhouse that called to me rather than the Persian inspired home and its fantastic studies and paintings of American beauty. Read More

Following in Frederic’s Footsteps

Jervis McEntee and Church – Reflections on a Forty-Year Friendship

This year Hudson River School devotees have the pleasure of attending two retrospective exhibitions about Rondout/Kingston native Jervis McEntee (1828-1891)—Jervis McEntee: Kingston’s Hudson River School Artist (Friends of Historic Kingston) and Jervis McEntee: Painter-Poet of the Hudson River School (Dorsky Museum at SUNY New Paltz). I was asked to lecture for the Friends of Historic Kingston about the association between Jervis McEntee and Frederic Church. It allowed me the chance to examine an affiliation which is often summarily defined by the fact that McEntee began his own professional career as a pupil of Church. Read More

Jervis McEntee and Church – Reflections on a Forty-Year Friendship

Groundswell

There are many reasons why Groundswell happens at Olana, but these reasons may not be obvious to those who don’t know the full story of America’s great landscape artist, Frederic Church. For example, some people mistakenly think that Olana is “just a house museum”, but the reality is that Olana is much more than that. Olana is Church’s 250-acre creation, fully designed as an experience around 360-degree views. Read More

Groundswell

Celebrating Aesthetic Innovation in Contact with the Natural World

I want to thank the over 300 guests at Olana’s Summer Party: “Icebergs in August” this past Saturday, who joined us for a mid-summer’s evening of sociability in the Hudson Valley focused on celebrating Frederic Church’s quest for aesthetic innovation in contact with the natural world. This year we reveled in his 1861 masterwork “The Icebergs,” and in my remarks I shared its remarkable story. Read More

Celebrating Aesthetic Innovation in Contact with the Natural World

The Rich Legacy of Plein Air Painting at Olana

“The Great Book of Nature is always open and there are no blank leaves for the artist.” – Frederic Church, 1898 To be at Olana on any given day is to sense Church’s own celebratory voice for all he created here, and to feel it echoed in the contemporary artists who come here for their own inspiration. Read More

The Rich Legacy of Plein Air Painting at Olana

Extending Olana’s relationships into downtown Hudson

As a new addition to The Olana Partnership team last spring, I was charged to extend Olana’s relationships into downtown Hudson and with local schools. This goal was linked to the desire to strengthen Olana’s education programs through strategic constituency building and in turn increase audiences. Read More

Extending Olana’s relationships into downtown Hudson