From the Schuylkill to the Hudson: Landscapes of the Early American Republic

Exhibition Info
Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building
Curated by
Anna O. Marley, Curator of Historical American Art
Discover how Philadelphia's painters influenced the artists of the legendary Hudson River School.

From the Schuylkill to the Hudson: Landscapes of the Early American Republic will delve into the important and underexplored tradition of landscape representation in Philadelphia from the Early American Republic to the Centennial Exhibition (1876) and how that corpus shaped the better-known Hudson River School. Philadelphia's key role in the growth of American landscape painting has never been the subject of a major museum exhibition. PAFA's exhibition, along with the accompanying catalog, will illuminate the growth of the genre from its roots, through its rise into the public consciousness. 

Thomas Cole, who is widely regarded as the founder of the Hudson River School, began his career as a landscape painter after living and training in Philadelphia. During the time he spent in the city in the 1820s, he was influenced by the work of Thomas Doughty and Thomas Birch, whose American landscapes were on view at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Doughty and Birch were only two of many landscape painters living and exhibiting their work in Philadelphia at the time, including Charles Willson Peale, James Peale, William Russell Birch, John Lewis Krimmel, Joshua Shaw, Jacob Eichholtz, and Russell SmithFrom the Schuylkill to the Hudson will place special emphasis on representations of local waterways in order to showcase the manner in which these Philadelphia water views, whether of the Schuylkill, the Wissahickon, or Delaware, constituted some of the earliest and most influential sites within American visual culture.

In addition to exhibiting fine art paintings and prints, From the Schuylkill to the Hudson: Landscapes of the Early American Republic will share with visitors the broader story of landscape representation in Philadelphia by including decorative ceramics produced both locally and globally. A highlight of the exhibition will be a group of major Hudson River School paintings acquired by PAFA over the last 10 years, including works by Cole, Albert Bierstadt, David Johnson, Frederic Church, and Thomas Moran.

The works in the exhibition will be drawn primarily from PAFA's superlative permanent collection—along with select public and private local collections—underlining the key role Philadelphia, and the Pennsylvania Academy itself played in the development of landscape painting in America. The accompanying catalog will include reproductions of works from the show, an essay on landscape painting and decorative arts by Anna O. Marley, and an essay on reproductive landscapes by Ramey Mize. 

From the Museum Store

schuylkill to husdon catalog cover

This exhibition catalog features essays by PAFA's curator of Historical of American Art, Dr. Anna O. Marley, and Ramey Mize, with a foreword by Brooke Davis Anderson (Edna S. Tuttleman Director of the Museum).

Exhibition Support

From the Schuylkill to the Hudson: Landscapes of the Early American Republic is made possible by the Henry Luce Foundation. Major support is provided by the Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts, Inc. Leadership support is provided by Julie and James Alexandre and Bowman Properties, Ltd. Generous support is provided by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., Louisa C. Duemling, the Newington-Cropsey Foundation, Dorothy and Ken Woodcock and The IFPDA Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Foundation for Landscape Studies and Furthermore Program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund.

Historic Exhibitions are generously supported by The Templeton Family.

Special Exhibitions are generously supported by Emily and Mike Cavanagh, Jonathan L. Cohen, Ro and Martin King, Robert E. Kohler and Frances Coulborn Kohler, Maggie and Brien Murphy, and Dorothy and Ken Woodcock. Additional support is provided the PAFA Annual Exhibition Fund.

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