Hudson 400

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HUDSON RIVER PANORAMA
400 Years of History, Art and Culture
February 7, 2009–January 3, 2010

Though its shores lie several miles from the Albany Institute of History & Art, the mighty Hudson River will be the museum’s main focus in February 2009 as we unveil Hudson River Panorama: 400 Years of History, Art, and Culture.

Specifically conceived to coincide with the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial—an international celebration stretching from New York City to Quebec Province—the exhibition will explore and narrate the influential force that the Hudson has had on our region, including settlement, agricultural cultivation, industrial growth, tourism, and the cultural prominence of its talented and creative artists, writers, architects, and landscape gardeners. More than 200 historical artifacts, works of art, and rare archival documents from the collections of the Albany Institute and selected public and private collections will help tell the many stories of the river.

For more than three years, the Albany Institute has been researching topics related to the Hudson River in preparation for the exhibition and accompanying educational programs. The process has been journey of exploration and discovery , unearthing accounts of the people and events that have shaped the history of the Hudson Valley.

With a topic as vast and wide-ranging as the Hudson River, selecting key events, people, innovations, and ideas to relate broader narratives of the river has been both crucial and challenging. The exhibition will be divided into five themed sections: Community and Settlement; Natural History and Environment; Transportation; Trade, Commerce, and Industry; Culture and Symbol. Other galleries will offer visitors a chance to discover the flora and fauna of the Hudson River Valley and compare historic and contemporary images that reveal how the human presence has shaped and changed the appearance of the river over the last 200 years. The exhibition is also designed to reveal interconnections among the various topics, with occasional surprises and unexpected associations.

Whether visitors to the exhibition come from the Hudson Valley or travel in from elsewhere, Hudson River Panorama promises a stimulating and enjoyable look at one of America’s great rivers and the people and history it helped to shape.

Postcard, "Henry Hudson and The Half Moon"; unidentified artist, unidentified publisher; ca. 1909; inscribed (back) "HENRY HUDSON, Having set out to find a short passage to India, he left Gravesend for Nova Zembia in April 1608, and, halted by Icebergs, drifted for months and finally entered New York Harbor in September 1609. He was turned adrift in an open shallop by his mutinous crew in 1611, and never was heard of again."; MG 157, Postcard Collection, Box 1, AIHA Library

(Above): Landing Place, Albany, John E. Regan, 1862, Watercolor on paper, ht. 11 7/8 in., w. 17 ¾ in. AIHA Collection, Gift of Ledyard Cogswell: u1977.321

(Above, left): View of Hudson, New York,
Henry Ary, 1852, oil on canvas, 26" by 36", Albany Institute of History & Art purchase, 1977.17

To date, support for this project has been provided by the Bender Family Foundation, Equinox Foundation, the Lucille A. Herold Charitable Trust, the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation/Hudson River Estuary Program, the Hudson River Foundation, Teaching the Hudson Valley ,the New York Council for the Humanities, and MetLife Foundation.

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