April 27, 2013 - July 20th, 2013
Photography’s evolution as an art form has been influenced by countless individuals, thematic styles, and chemical processes. Initially, photography was used largely to document what surrounded or intrigued the public eye. As more individuals began using cameras, the idea grew that photography could be a form of art in addition to a form of documentation. This captured the attention of many artists, most notably Alfred Stieglitz, who formed the Photo Secession and helped establish Pictorialism.
The 30 photographers included in this exhibition have extensive histories that span thematic periods and artistic styles. Taking their cues from Master Photographers like Edward Steichen, artists such as Berenice Abbott and Manuel Alvarez Bravo built on that foundation in order to explore the very art of photography. Utilizing their cameras, they created a new, modern vision for photography with a revised understanding of the camera and its capabilities. No longer tied to a pictorial past, these artists, and others, gave photography its own unique definition as an art form based solely on its ability to capture and create striking images. As a result, they too are considered Master Photographers.
This Exhibition is funded, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts- a state agency, and the Montgomery County Occupancy Tax administered by the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors
October 27, 2012 - September 15, 2013
This exhibition features remarkable American Impressionist paintings from the Arkell collections. Twelve paintings recently returned from the Fenimore Art Museum's exhibition "American Impressionism: Paintings of Light and Life" will be featured along with other treasures from the permanent collection. Sun-dappled views of France and America by Childe Hassam, John Twachtman, Theodore Robinson, J. Alden Weir, and Edward Redfield are among the notable paintings in this exhibition. Most American Impressionists spent time in Paris and Monet’s hometown of Giverny where they saw the work of French Impressionists. Once they returned to America they made the new Impressionist style their own. Views of the New England countryside, coastal communities and New York City were popular subjects for the American Impressionists. The exhibition includes Robinson's "Josephine in the Garden" in Giverny, Hassam's "Provincetown", Twachtman’s "Gloucester Harbor" and Ernest Lawson’s "Brooklyn Bridge."
Permanent Exhibition
Bartlett Arkell’s collection of late 19th and early 20th century American paintings and the use of his collection to market Beech-Nut products is the focus of this exhibition. The exhibition is on display in Arkell’s original gallery and in new exhibition spaces.
Bartlett Arkell, founder of the Canajoharie Library Art Gallery and the first President of Beech-Nut Packing Company, encouraged his marketing staff to use his collection in their print ads. The result of this borrowing of images from oil paintings created by artists such as Edward Gay and J.G. Brown, was a series of ad campaigns that brought “art to the masses” and linked the virtues found in the paintings with Beech-Nut gum and food products. Museum visitors have the opportunity to use images from the collection to create their own Beech-Nut advertisement to take home or mail as a postcard.
Exhibition funded, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency.
