On display: The myth and reality of the Hudson River School
Lisa Sanditz, Kaaterskill Falls, 2022, oil on canvas. Purchase, gift of Mrs. Frederick Ferris Thompson, by exchange, 2023.17. © Lisa Sanditz
Vassar to reinstall, reinterpret role in Hudson River School of art in new exhibit
Throughout history, the Hudson River region has been depicted as “a promised land of religious freedom, a haven of ethnic identity, an opportunity to reconnect with nature, and a space to experiment with alternative lifestyles.”
More than 200 years ago, Thomas Cole travelled up the Hudson River, portraying its idyllic landscapes and utopian sights along the way, despite the growing industrialization and suburbanization of the surrounding modern world. According to a new exhibition in Poughkeepsie, that voyage “marked the mythical origin of the so-called Hudson River School of American landscape painting.”
Great Green Hope for the Urban Blues, a new exhibition at the Lehman Loeb Gallery at Vassar College, currently on view through August 17, 2025, invites viewers to “explore how the Hudson Valley has been pictured as a place both proximate to the city and its opposite – a ‘great green hope,’ as much myth as reality.”
The exhibition features works spanning more than 200 years, originating with The Hudson River Port-Folio, which dates back to the 1820s, to present-day artists, including the Chinese artist Yan Shanchun, who made his Hudson Valley–inspired series, Memory and Fantasy, “without ever stepping foot in it – transforming the region from a physical geography into a mythic ideal.”
Throughout Great Green Hope for the Urban Blues, the valley’s romantic idylls are exhibited, exposed and updated as historic landscapes by Hudson River School artists are juxtaposed with contemporary work, such as Lisa Sanditz’s 2022 piece, Kaaterskill Falls, pictured above, depicting the ever-popular Catskills destination “inundated by selfie-taking tourists.”
Funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art, the exhibition marks the beginning of the Loeb’s initiative to “reinterpret and reinstall the museum’s significant collection from art from the Hudson River School.”
“The exhibition is helping us to develop new strategies for displaying and interpreting this core collection in ways that serve the Loeb’s teaching mission and commitment to a positive impact in our communities,” said Bart Thurber, the Anne Hendricks Bass Director of the Loeb.
In conjunction with the exhibition, the Loeb has commissioned Tamara Aupaumut, an artist of Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican, Oneida, and Brothertown descent, to create two papier-mâché sculptures responding to the exhibition’s themes.
“Dispelling the myth of the so-called Hudson River School paintings in this region is important in recognizing the truth and the destruction that comes along with lies, greed, and genocide,” writes Aupaumut. “I hope my work will inspire viewers to engage with the world as a relationship. A relationship that is reciprocal, nurturing, and loving. One that needs to be reconciled through honesty, accountability, and action in order to restore harmony and balance for all life.”
Mary-Kay Lombino, Deputy Director and the Emily Hargroves Fisher ’57 and Richard B. Fisher Curator of the Loeb, will lead a panel discussion on Great Green Hope for the Urban Blues on Saturday, February 22, 2025 at 2pm. Hudson Valley artists Tanya Marcuse, Qiana Mestrich, and Lisa Sanditz will be part of the panel discussion. An opening reception follows at 3:30pm.
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