Olana announces the opening of a new exhibition, In the Footsteps of Frederic Church: Photos by Larry Lederman.
The recently restored Olana Coachman’s House is now the home to an exciting exhibition featuring photos by Larry Lederman. Lederman’s photographs of the New York Botanical Garden have been the source for the Garden’s highly regarded calendar for the last six years. The Olana exhibition features photos by Lederman of a number of sites that renowned Hudson River School artist Frederic E. Church painted and seek to explore his art and evoke his artistic vision. The images Lederman has selected for the exhibition are a representative selection of the range of Church’s subject matter and affirm for the viewer that many of the wilderness enclaves Church painted still exist, preserved as part of our heritage because of the beauty that he and other nineteenth century painters captured. The sites represented include, Mount Desert Island, Maine; Newfoundland; Niagara Falls, and scenes from Olana.
Church chose to paint wilderness to reflect the eternal. He shows wilderness as essential to nature, but reflects inevitable change. The photographs, in their ability to stop time and telescope distance show aspects that Church could not see, but they affirm his faithfulness to nature. What he saw as eternal still resonates with us, despite the changes that time and industrial development have wrought. And we, like Church, have come to recognize the fragility of our environment. The grandeur of nature and awe for it are what he brought to us to stir our souls. His paintings still do. The photographs are meant to do the same.
The coachman’s house is connected to the historic carriage barn and both are located near the main house atop the hill at Olana. These were important structures during Church’s life. The first buildings constructed in this location,served as the “bunk house” for workers during construction of the house between 1870 and 1874. Upon completion of the house the buildings were converted to farm use and housed John McKenna, the Churches longtime coachman and gardener and his family. Today the complex serves as the Museum Store, Orientation Center, and now home to this year’s photography exhibition. The Coachman’s house is located just steps from the main parking lot at Olana. The exhibition is free and open Tuesday through Sunday from 10AM-5PM through October 31.
Signed copies of the photos from the exhibition are available for sale in the Olana museum store and online with proceeds dedicated to the preservation of Olana. A sampling of work from this exhibit can be viewed in the photos section of OurHudson.org.
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The recently restored Olana Coachman’s House is now the home to an exciting exhibition featuring photos by Larry Lederman. Lederman’s photographs of the New York Botanical Garden have been the source for the Garden’s highly regarded calendar for the last six years. The Olana exhibition features photos by Lederman of a number of sites that renowned Hudson River School artist Frederic E. Church painted and seek to explore his art and evoke his artistic vision. The images Lederman has selected for the exhibition are a representative selection of the range of Church’s subject matter and affirm for the viewer that many of the wilderness enclaves Church painted still exist, preserved as part of our heritage because of the beauty that he and other nineteenth century painters captured. The sites represented include, Mount Desert Island, Maine; Newfoundland; Niagara Falls, and scenes from Olana.
Church chose to paint wilderness to reflect the eternal. He shows wilderness as essential to nature, but reflects inevitable change. The photographs, in their ability to stop time and telescope distance show aspects that Church could not see, but they affirm his faithfulness to nature. What he saw as eternal still resonates with us, despite the changes that time and industrial development have wrought. And we, like Church, have come to recognize the fragility of our environment. The grandeur of nature and awe for it are what he brought to us to stir our souls. His paintings still do. The photographs are meant to do the same.
Signed copies of the photos from the exhibition are available for sale in the Olana museum store and online with proceeds dedicated to the preservation of Olana. A sampling of work from this exhibit can be viewed in the photos section of OurHudson.org.