The Hudson River School - New-York Historical Society Edition

The first American school of art was begun in 1825 by a young artist by the name of Thomas Cole who traveled by steamboat on an excursion up the Hudson River. When he returned to New York City, he carried with him sketchbook studies for landscape paintings that would change American art. His paintings, created from direct observations of nature, captured the stirring beauty of the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson Highlands.

Thus was born the Hudson River School, a term coined about 1880 to refer to the loosely knit group of artists who rose to prominence in New York during the early 19th century. Their mission was to create a self-consciously "American" landscape vision and literary voice based on exploration of the natural world as a resource for spiritual renewal, and as an expression of cultural and national identity. After 1850, Hudson River School artists also sought inspiration farther from home, portraying wilderness experiences in the West, the Arctic, and the Andes.

Within the galleries of the New-York Historical Society is a treasured collection of superb American artists whose works are represented in this historic first print edition of the Hudson River School paintings. The School's aesthetic celebrates a romantic vision of the pristine wilderness, capturing nature in its most glorious sunset light and serene moments. Some paintings introduce the human element into compositions, portraying landscapes in which man and nature exist in harmony.

Oppenheimer Editions is pleased to offer a print edition of these landscape paintings as they have never been seen before. Every print is hand embossed with the New-York Historical Society logo and that of Oppenheimer Editions, the publisher, and also numbered and stamped with the signature of the the president of the New-York Historical Society.