Trip Along the Hudson River, Part 1

For years I’ve heard about the Hudson River Valley. My mother and her family were from Peekskill, just north of NYC right on the river. I have a deep fondness for the Hudson River School of artists and for years had wanted to see their work in its natural environment. Plus all those little towns and villages, mansions and historic homes as well as the DIA Beacon art space. Finally it happened, a trip through the Hudson River Valley. Bonus! Fall colors! Except for wishing for more days to see all the places I missed, I couldn’t have asked for more.

Starting from the northern end and driving south, the forests were just at the beginning of their color changes.

Some trees were just starting to turn. A smattering of golds and bits of red.

A moment in Albany to visit their art museum. Albany in 1848, painted by William Hart.

The museum has an impressive collection of Hudson River School paintings. Beginning early in the 1800’s, the Hudson River School was America’s version of Europe’s Romanticism. It is considered America’s first art movement. The focus was on an awe inspired appreciation of nature, its power and sublime beauty, landscapes with wild forests, billowing clouds, misty valleys and sweeping vistas.

‘Storm King on the Hudson,’ by Homer Dodge Martin, 1862

A bucolic scene entitled ‘Landscape,’ by William Hart. 1855-60

The first artist credited with starting the movement was Thomas Cole [1801-1848.] In 1825, while living in New York City, a patron financed Cole’s trip up the Hudson river to Catskill and the surrounding areas. The 3 landscape paintings he created from that trip sold and launched his career as an artist. He regularly traveled up the river every year and in 1836 he married and settled permanently in Catskill.

His painting of the house he and his family lived in.

Now a museum.

His family and dependents lived here until the 1970’s. In 1998 it was rescued and is now owned and operated by the Thomas Cole National Historic Site.

Inside you can get an idea of how he and his family lived. Plus, see many of his paintings, including many of the Hudson river and the Catskill mountains in the distance.

And the views that inspired them.

Gorgeous.

Across the river, on the other side is another artist’s home, Olana. It was built by Thomas Cole’s student, Frederick Church [1826-1900.] The son of a wealthy business man, Church was able to spend months and years traveling the world. He went to South America, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East and the Arctic. His travels fueled his appreciation and interest in a style he called ‘Persian.’ His named his house Olana, a word derived from the Arabic ‘our place on high.’

It’s styled in what a victorian might call ‘Orientalism.’

His painting of Petra hanging above a fireplace. Getting to Petra today is not especially easy, can you imagine in the mid-1800’s?

He was a collector of the first degree. Little things, big, furniture, paintings, textiles, you name it. It was the Victorian age, and more was definitely better.

The dining room.

He was very successful and is one of the best remembered artist of the Hudson River School. People loved, appreciated and collected his work. Remember, the only way for ordinary people to see other parts of the world was with paintings. From Niagara Falls to Petra to the Andes to Syria, to see the world you either traveled or you went to the exhibit to see paintings.

Pattern on Pattern. An absolute love of the ‘exotic.’

And always, a view to the Hudson River-

that he painted and painted.

The view now. Taller trees, but roughly the same scene.

Beautiful.

One more Victorian house on this leg of the trip.

My great grandparent’s house.

I’d heard about it all my life but never seen it. This trip was my chance.

My grandfather was born and raised here, then brought his new bride, my grandmother, to this house to live. After a few years, they and their 3 year old daughter, my mother, moved next door.

As it was.

It may have been my great grandmother’s pride, but her daughter-in-law, my grandmother, was not impressed. It was out of style and too much to handle. After my great grandparents died it was rented, then reconfigured as a mortuary and finally sold to the Lutheran church. Which is what it is now.

It’s lost its porch, the front door has been replaced with a stained glass window and the interior rooms have been opened into a sanctuary. But it’s still basically there. I was beyond happy to see it! So cool!

I was so grateful that it had been saved.

It felt like an archeological dig.

A remaining stone pillar of the great stone wall the once ringed the yard.

As it was.

I am fascinated by how things change. I’ve been a history nerd since the beginning. ‘Tell me what it was like when you were a little girl?’ I’d ask my mother.

Seeing this old house and how it’s changed and been reconfigured into something new, I was beyond giddy.

And just a few blocks away, down the street, the amazing Hudson River. It would have been close to the same view that my mother, grandparents and great grandparents had seen.

It’s all about what changes and what stays the same.

So cool.