Exhibitions
January 20, 2008 to July 20, 2008
This fascinating exhibition of portraits by some of America’s best known artists from the 18th through the early 20th century is selected from the Arkell Museum’s permanent collection. The subject of these paintings range from America’s first president painted by Gilbert Stuart to an introspective portrait by Thomas Eakins and a beautiful woman painted by John Singer Sargent.
March 9, 2008 - June 15, 2008
The Appel Collection of immigrant and ethnic caricatures from Judge and Puck magazines date from the late 19th century to World War I, a period of massive migration to the United States. The images, sometimes humorous, sometimes very disturbing, depict American values and attitudes of the period. Original art by the cartoonists Gilliam and Zim will be shown alongside the magazine illustrations.
Exhibition funded, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency.
September 23, 2007 to February 20, 2008
The Mohawk Valley’s River, the Erie Canal, and the picturesque villages and farmland have all been sources of inspiration for artists from the early 1800s up to the present.
The landscape here today is a reflection of the work of German settlers who cleared the land and planted wheat in the 18th century. Nineteenth-century travel books featured images of the new canal and railroad that ran along river. Painters were also drawn to these images and tended to show the changing modes of transportation in harmony with nature.
William Wall’s painting New York and the Erie Canal is believed by many to be the quintessential image of the Mohawk Valley, capturing all the elements people associate with this region.
Edward Gay, another 19th century artist featured in this exhibition, was a well-known Albany and New York City artist who frequently returned to the Mohawk Valley for inspiration. His large oil painting, Mother Earth, measuring over eight feet in length, places the viewer in the middle of a large hayfield with the farmer in the distance and majestic sky overhead.
The rural views captured by artists in past centuries can still be found today. Contemporary artists depict these views but some artists such as Walter Hatke show us the beauty and hint at what might be hiding under our broad skies.
