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February - March 2018
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Merna
Popper
Merna introduced me to the
work of Michael Mendel. He is
a gifted painter with a love of
the Hudson.
It’s a privilege to present his
work to readers of Boating on
the Hudson and Beyond.
John H Vargo, Publisher.
THE HUDSON RIVER
PAINTERS THEN....
AND RIGHT NOW
L
ove of the Hudson River began hundreds of years ago
when the first explorers sailed those uncharted waters. Today,
Museums are filled with the best and most moving views of the
19th Century Hudson River School of Artists. The good news is:
great love and appreciation for The Hudson River is alive and well
and flourishing right here/right now in 2018, with painters lining
the shores to report sights most people never get to see and
would find hard to imagine.
Thomas Cole and Frederick Church are guardians of The
Hudson River School of Painters. With their stately homes on the
shores of the river, a reminder of the original beauty and history
their art recorded. Today, a new generation of painters continues
the fascination with The Hudson, and they are still capturing the
views, the dancing sunlight, and the magic of The River.
Thomas Cole’s great house perched on a rise above the
water, overlooks The Hudson in the tiny hamlet of Catskill,
New York, a reminder of the inspiration of those original
Hudson River painters, and for two centuries of artists that
followed. Cole was the founder of The Hudson River School
of Painters.
Frederick Church, the mighty student of Cole, built his
Olana homestead,--grand and imposing across the river
just outside Hudson, New York, a town today, filled with art,
antiques, and river views from vantage points along the
shop-lined streets. Church’s enormous river and mountain
views hang in museums across America.
by
Merna Popper