Boscobel reopens with ‘most expansive exhibition to date’

Sep 15

Written By HVNY

Boscobel House and Gardens in Garrison offers some of the finest views of the Hudson River Valley. But after the ceiling of the historic home collapsed in April of 2024, the home and museum not only closed to the public for tours, but some of the site’s rare items – including six unique maple chairs with hand-painted vistas on the back – were destroyed.

This weekend, after “meticulous restoration,” Boscobel will mark the reopening of their Historic House Museum with tours and their most expansive exhibition to date.

Scenic Vistas: Landscape as Culture in Early New York, on view from September 19 through November 16, 2025, “brings together historic 19th-century decorative arts and contemporary works to demonstrate the longstanding significance of landscape depictions in the Hudson Valley.”

The exhibition showcases the range of landscape imagery in decorative arts, including those 1815 maple side chairs that were crushed last winter. The chairs were subject to “meticulous restoration,” the site says, “embodying both resilience and artistry.”

The exhibit also includes Jean-Marc Sovak’s installation, Cruel Necessity/Unnecessary Cruelty, as wallpaper in Boscobel’s entryhall, and a site-specific installation situated on the footprint of one of two Osborn Maples that framed Boscobel’s Great Lawn since the site’s opening as a museum in 1961.

The exhibition opens to members on September 18, 2025 from 5 to 7pm, with special remarks from Jennifer Carlquist, Gary Hildebrand, and Alison McNulty at 5pm and reception to follow.

Scenic Vistas: Landscape as Culture in Early New York Exhibition Programming

October 5: Panel Discussion: Legacies of the Hudson Valley’s Landscape Culture with Evan Pritchard, Jean-Marc Sovak, Frederic C. Rich, and Betsy Jacks
October 23: The Distinctive Wappingers: Getting to Know “The Men of the East” Through Ceremonial Art with Professor Evan Pritchard
October 24 & November 17: Plein-air Drawing Workshops with James McElhinney
October 30: Virtual Scenic Landscapes Ceramics Lecture with Assistant Curator Riley Richards

For more information, visit boscobel.org