Glens Falls

Chapman Museum Program on Sherman Island Dam

admin

On Thursday, September 15 at 7 pm at the Chapman Historical Museum, Director Tim Weidner will present an illustrated talk on construction of Sherman Island (Parklap) Dam in on the Hudson River in Moreau in the early 1920s. Members of the public are invited to bring and to share their clippings, photos or other research materials relating to Hudson River dams. Of particular interest is information about the “IP train track” that ran from the Finch, Pruyn & Co. mill along the north side of the river and the small settlement of kit houses built for workers at the dam site.

The program is presented in connection with the museum’s exhibition, Harnessing the Hudson, which will be on display through September 25th. The Chapman Historical Museum is located at 348 Glen Street, Glens Falls, NY. Public hours are: Tuesday – Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm, and Sunday from noon to 4 pm. For more information call (518) 793-2826 or go to www.chapmanmuseum.org.

Photo: Workers laying track to the Sherman Island Dam site, 1921.

Catalog Features Glens Falls Insurance Co. Sign

admin

The Glens Falls Insurance Company agent’s trade sign, which served as the model for the reproduction currently available from Pottery Barn, is now on display at the Chapman Historical Museum. Shaped in the form of a fireman’s helmet shield, the five foot tall sign, which dates from around 1877, proclaims the company’s solid assets under its logo, “Old and Tried.” The original sign, part of the museum’s Glens Falls Insurance Company Collection, has been reproduced through a licensing agreement between the museum and Williams Sonoma.

The Glens Falls Insurance Company was founded in 1849 by Russell M. Little, a former Methodist minister, to provide fire insurance for residents of his small upstate New York community. The company grew rapidly, and in a few years operated branch offices across the United States. “Old & Tried” became well known for sound business practices and the ability to pay claims after the disastrous fires that plagued American cities a century ago. The company’s motto proved well deserved. In response to the 1906 earthquake and fire that destroyed San Francisco, Glens Falls Insurance Company paid out $1.5 million from its surplus without suffering financial setback.

In spite of research, the exact identity of the agent, C.H. Barber, is not known. Leads from the public are welcome.

For more information call the Chapman Historical Museum at (518) 793-2826. The museum is located at 348 Glen Street, Glens Falls, NY. Public hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm, and Sunday, Noon to 4 pm.

Environmental Historian Cumbler at Chapman Museum

admin

This Wednesday, May 25, at 7 pm, noted environmental historian John Cumbler will present a talk entitled Mills, Water Power Dams and the Transformation of the Environment at the Chapman Historical Museum in Glens Falls. The lecture is the first in a series of programs, funded in part by a grant from the New York Council for the Humanities, which expand on the themes of the Chapman’s current exhibit, Harnessing the Hudson: Waterwheels & Turbines, a history of waterpower on the upper Hudson River. The program is free and open to the public.

John T. Cumbler, who earned his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, has taught at the Univ. of Louisville since 1975, specializing in United States Environmental History and Economic History. Professor Cumbler is the author of numerous books including: Northeast and Midwest United States: An Environmental History (2005) and Reasonable Use: The People, The Environment, And The State, New England 1790-1930 (2001). In his talk he will explore the impact of industrialization on rivers and the history of how people have responded to that degradation.

The Chapman Historical Museum is located at 348 Glen Street, Glens Falls. The exhibit Harnessing the Hudson will be on view through September 25th. Public hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm, and Sunday, noon to 4 pm. For more information call (518) 793-2826 or visit www.chapmanmuseum.org.

Hydes Rembrandt on Loan to Louvre

admin

The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls has announced that its prized Christ with Folded Arms by Rembrandt van Rijn is now on display in the Louvre in Paris as part of a landmark exhibition titled &#8220Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus.&#8221

The Hyde masterwork plays a key role in shaping the thesis of the exhibition, which will be seen in three major museum venues. When the exhibition closes at the Louvre, it travels to the Philadelphia Museum of Art where it will be shown from August through October, 2011 and then to the Detroit Institute of Arts for exhibition beginning in February, 2012.

According to David F. Setford, the Hyde’s executive director, “It is seldom that the Museum considers lending this impressive masterwork, but the exhibition being organized by the Louvre offers previously unparalleled opportunities for comparisons with related works from Hygeia4NR.jpgleading museums around the world.” Setford also noted that the exhibition curators specifically requested Christ with Folded Arms because it is “the key image of Christ in Rembrandt’s late work” that “reflects how his idea of Christ had evolved” in a fully realized work.

During the absence of the Rembrandt work, The Hyde will exhibit a painting by the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). The work, lent to us by the Detroit Institute of Arts, is entitled Hygeia, Goddess of Health (1615) and depicts the classical goddess of health and the prevention of illness. Hygeia was the daughter of Asclepius, god of medicine and the word hygiene is derived from the goddess’ name. The voluptuous, Baroque figure of a semi-nude female is shown in the glowing, healthy flesh tones synonymous with Rubens and with the subject.

For the duration of the traveling exhibition, Hygeia, Goddess of Health will be on view in the Library of Hyde House where it will allow visitors to compare it with the Museum’s own smaller Rubens Portrait of a Warrior, that also hangs in that room.

Illustration: Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish, 1577-1640, Hygeia, Goddess of Health, ca. 1615- Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Reichhold. Image courtesy of The Bridgeman Art Library.

Champlain Canalway Trail Plan Unveiled

admin

At the Historic Saratoga-Washington on the Hudson Partnership meeting yesterday, Hudson Crossing Park announced the release of the Champlain Canalway Trail Action Plan for the 62-mile corridor between Waterford and Whitehall in Saratoga and Washington
Counties.

The Action Plan is intended to help focus and coordinate locally-based efforts to complete the Champlain Canalway Trail. It uses narrative, maps and photographs to describe the existing conditions, issues and opportunities along the proposed trail route. Each segment of the Action Plan can be used as a stand-alone by an individual community, to help focus attention and prompt constructive dialog.

The 62-mile Champlain Canalway Trail, together with the 9-mile Glens Falls Feeder Canal Trail, comprise one leg of the planned statewide Canalway Trail system. The 348-mile Erie Canalway Trail between Albany and Buffalo is the longest trail in the system. Now more than three-fourths complete, it is actively used by people in local communities, and is rapidly becoming a world-class recreational trail, attracting visitors from across the country as well as from abroad.

In the Champlain Canal corridor, about 17 miles of trail are complete, and another 14 miles are either in planning stages or expected to be completed within the next few years. Similar to the Erie Canalway Trail, the Champlain Canalway Trail is envisioned as an off-road trail wherever possible, with some on-road linkages. Once completed, the trail will provide connectivity between residential areas, business districts,
schools, parks and communities while reducing emissions and fuel consumption.

The Champlain Canalway Trail will be used by bicyclists, walkers, historical tourists, cross-country skiers and others. Sections will also be used seasonally by snowmobilers.

The completed Action Plan was produced by the LA Group of Saratoga Springs. It was funded by a grant awarded to Schuylerville-based Hudson Crossing Park, Inc, (www.hudsoncrossingpark.org) from the Rails to Trails Conservancy, a national organization that supports trail development.
Planning assistance was provided by the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program of the National Park Service.

For further information contact:

Southern Champlain Canalway Trail representative:
Nelson Ronsvalle – [email protected]

Central Champlain Canalway Trail representative:
Marlene Bissell – [email protected]

Northern Champlain Canalway Trail representative:
Jeanne Williams – [email protected]

The New York State Canal System is comprised of four historic waterways, the Erie, the Champlain, the Oswego and the Cayuga-Seneca Canals. Spanning 524 miles across New York State, the waterway links the Hudson River, Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes and the Niagara River with communities rich in history and culture.

Hyde Collection to Present Still Life Talk

admin

The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls has announced that on Thursday, March 17, 2011, the Museum will hold a lecture on still life by David F. Setford, the Museum’s executive director.

Titled &#8220Fish, Fowl, and Flowers: 20th Century Still Life from the Norton Museum,&#8221 the talk will be held in conjunction with the current exhibition at Hyde &#8211 Objects of Wonder: Four Centuries of Still Life from the Norton Museum of Art.

The exhibition brings together fifty-one works of painting, watercolor, collage, sculpture, and ceramics as well as glass pieces and textiles, spanning four centuries. The show features such famous artists as Gustave Courbet, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keeffe, Edward Steichen, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Andy Warhol. Setford, who was chief curator at the Norton throughout the 1990s, brings his specific expertise to this presentation as he was responsible for major shows at the Norton which featured 20th century artists, including Picasso, Man Ray, Dufy, and Bellows.

Setford’s lecture will highlight the different way that 20th century artists used still life as a way to grapple with the new styles of the century and will be held in The Hyde’s Froehlich Auditorium at 6 pm.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Suggested non-member donation to view the exhibition, which will be open to visitors until the start of the lecture, is $8. Seating is limited and is offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Those wishing to make reservations area asked to call 518-792-1761 ext. 17.

Illustration: Pomegranates and Fruit on Silver with Baluch Rug by James Whitbeck.

Hyde Collection to Feature New Acquisitions

admin

The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, Warren County, has announced the opening on March 8 of its newest exhibition – What’s New? Acquisitions from 2008 to 2010.

The exhibition, which will be on display through May 29, features approximately twenty-four works of art acquired by The Hyde Collection between 2008 and 2010. During this period, the Museum accessioned an unprecedented ninety-six objects into its permanent collection through bequests, gifts, and purchases from a variety of donors and sources.
 
What’s New? highlights a selection of these recent additions, many of which introduce artists who have not been represented in the collection to date. The exhibition also emphasizes the variety of media in which these artists worked. Featured are such works as the monumental etching, The Gate Of Venice from 1888, by the American artist Thomas Moran (1837-1926) and a stunning Pond Lily Lamp from the Tiffany Studios, dating to the early-twentieth century. Also on display are a luminous watercolor by the American modernist Arthur Dove (1880-1946) from 1934-35 and an early engraving by the German Renaissance master Albrecht Durer (1471-1528).

The works will be on view in the Hoopes Gallery and in the Education Wing of the Museum. The exhibition is curated by Erin Coe, chief curator, and Jayne Stokes, associate curator of The Hyde Collection.

Museum to Exhibit Stoddard Images of Glen’s Falls

admin

Many times in the late 19th century Adirondack photographer Seneca Ray Stoddard turned to the falls of the Hudson at Glens Falls for subject matter. He focused on the cascades, pools and rock formations that he found in the river bed as well as the bridges and factories above. Stoddard returned often to photograph the events that occurred there. Included in his work are images of floods, fires, and new mills along the river banks.

Until May 8th the Chapman Historical Museum will exhibit a selection of fifteen original Stoddard’s photos of “The Falls under the Bridge.” The show will be followed this summer by a second series featuring Stoddard’s photos of other falls in the Adirondacks.

The Chapman Historical Museum, located at 348 Glen Street, Glens Falls, is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm, and Sunday, noon to 4 pm. For info call (518) 793-2826.

Photo: Glens Falls, View from the South Side of the Bridge, ca. 1875. Courtesy Chapman Museum.

Hyde After Dark Networking Event Tonight

admin

The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls announces that the first Hyde after Dark event of 2011 will be held at the Museum tonight, Thursday, March 3 from 5:30 to 8 pm.

The Hyde after Dark program, which brings approximately 100 individuals to The Hyde on each occasion, was designed to make it as convenient as possible for potential visitors to come directly after work and socialize with friends while enjoying the art on display.

March’s Hyde after Dark showcases Objects of Wonder & Delight: Four Centuries of Still Life from the Norton Museum of Art – the Museum’s current exhibition which includes works by such artists as Matisse, Chagall, O’Keeffe, and Mapplethorpe.

The evening will feature live music by Mark Rabin, light appetizers, beer, wine, and access to the exhibition.

Davidson Brothers Brewery and Restaurant is the Event Partner and this Hyde after Dark is being held in association with the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Organization and the Saratoga County chamber of Commerce Young Professional Network.

Tickets for Hyde after Dark are $12 for members and $15 general admission. Those interested can save $2 per ticket by purchasing at least one day in advance of the event at the Museum Store or by phone via credit card. Admission to the exhibition during Hyde after Dark is included in the ticket price.

Contact the Museum at 518-792-1761, ext. 46 for additional information, to add your name to the Hyde after Dark electronic invitation list, or to purchase advance tickets. Individuals purchasing a new Museum membership at Hyde after Dark are admitted to that evening’s event free of charge.