A Hudson River School Legacy

New-York Historical Society
March 24 – June 4, 2017


In 2015, the New-York Historical Society received a magnificent gift of 15 Hudson River School paintings from the collection of the late Arthur and Eileen Newman. These new acquisitions will be displayed together for the first time since they hung on the walls of the Newmans’ Manhattan apartment, alongside selected examples from New-York Historical’s longstanding collections.

Inspired by the natural beauty of the Hudson River Valley region and the emotional intensity of the scenes captured by painters of the first self-consciously “American” school of art, Arthur and Eileen Newman acquired works by artists including Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church, and Martin Johnson Heade. Collecting began as an avocation, for the couple’s personal pleasure and enrichment. But ultimately the Newmans’ sought to bring their private holdings to a public institution so that these gems of the Hudson River School could be shared with future generations.

Cole’s Sunset, View on the Catskill;

Church’s Early Autumn;

Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823–1900)
Wickham Pond and Sugar Loaf Mountain, Orange County, 1876
Oil on canvas
32 1/8 in. × 40 in. × 1 1/4 in
Collection of Arthur and Eileen Newman, Bequest of Eileen Newman, 2015.33.9
Photography, Glenn Castellano, Courtesy of the New-York Historical Society

and Cropsey’s Wickham Pond and Sugar Loaf Mountain, Orange County

Martin Johnson Heade (1819–1904)
Storm Clouds over the Marshes, ca. 1871–75
Oil on canvas
13 1/8 × 24 1/4 × 1 3/8 in.
Collection of Arthur and Eileen Newman, Bequest of Eileen Newman, 2015.33.7
Photography, Glenn Castellano, Courtesy of the New-York Historical Society

Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900)
Home by the Lake, 1852
Oil on canvas
26 1/2 × 40 1/2 × 1 1/8 in.
Collection of Arthur and Eileen Newman, Bequest of Eileen Newman , 2015.33.13
Photography, Glenn Castellano, Courtesy of the New-York Historical Society

join other paintings to reveal the legacy of the Hudson River School.


Complementing A Hudson River School Legacy, New-York Historical presents ​​The Inspiration:​ ​“​​​​The Hudson River Portfolio​,”​ curated by Roberta J.M. Olson, curator of drawings. ​In 1820 Irish-born ​​William Guy Wall embarked on a sketching tour of the Hudson River Valley​. A selection of ​his watercolors were engraved by English-born master printmaker John Hill in ​​​​The Portfolio, long-considered the forerunner of the Hudson River School of painters. ​A cornerstone of American printmaking and landscape, its topographical views cover 212 miles of the river’s 315-mile course―from Lake Luzerne in the Adirondacks to Governors Island near Manhattan.

William Guy Wall (1792–after 1864)
Preparatory Study for Plate 19 of “The Hudson River Portfolio”: View of the Palisades, New Jersey, 1820
Watercolor, graphite, and scratching out with touches of gouache on paper, laid on card
Gift of John Austin Stevens, 1903.13

William Guy Wall (1792–after 1864)
Preparatory Study for Plate 10 of “The Hudson River Portfolio”: View Near Fort Edward, New York, 1820
Watercolor, scratching out, selective glazing, and touches of gouache and black ink on paper, laid on card, laid on canvas
James B. Wilbur Fund, 1941.1119

On view are the eight rare watercolor models by Wall (the only known in existence), a bound copy of The Hudson River Portfolio,​ and other related works, all drawn from the New-York Historical’s rich holdings.