The most fascinating pictures, in my opinion, are the ones in which Vedder explores his passion for story-telling. St. George and the Dragon and The Gloomy Path stand out as imaginative scenes that allow the viewer to get lost in the mysterious compositions.

Myth & Reality is accompanied by a complimentary catalogue featuring an essay by Dr. Graham Boettcher, the William Cary Hulsey Curator of American Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art. The full exhibition is now available for viewing on our website. Click here to view the exhibition.

Elihu Vedder, "Campagna Romana," ca. 1870

Elihu Vedder, "St. George and the Dragon," 1866

The unique mining location has acted as inspiration for the themes of the show, and Stella’s painting will be included in the section “The Aesthetics of Pollution.” In this work, Stella captured the viewpoint of modern painters who both denounced and formalized coal smoke as they coped with the rapid expansion of this technology.

The inclusion of modern, American artists (Charles Demuth, William Rittase, and Robert Smithson will also be shown) amongst an almost exclusively European cast, points to the growing interest of American art abroad. While the Amsterdam based Manifesta Foundation exists to unite European artists, the recognition of these Americans shows the influence they have on the global stage. Imagine how proud the Hudson River School artists, eager to prove themselves to their European counterparts, would be to know of the recognition of their successors.

Joseph Stella, "Smoke Stacks," 1935; Courtesy of the Fine Arts Program, Public Buildings Service, U.S. General Services Administration, commissioned through the New Deal art projects, on deposit at Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana, 1943.01.199

Questroyal is once again participating and expects to have plenty of visitors in booth 218 to view new acquisitions by Edmund Greacen, Childe Hassam, Martin Johnson Heade, Rockwell Kent, and Jane Peterson. The show is being held at the landmark Park Avenue Armory at Park Avenue and 67^th Street and runs through this Sunday, May 6. For complimentary tickets, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Charles Burchfield's "Maytime in the Woods" in Questroyal's booth at the Spring Show NYC.

Weir was born into a family of important American artists; his father, Robert Walter Weir, and brother, John Ferguson Weir, were both accomplished Hudson River School painters and professors. With the encouragement of his family, Weir spent four years studying in Paris with master academic painter Jean-Léon Gérôme and traveling throughout Europe. When he returned to New York in 1877, he founded The Tile Club, a social club for young artists such as William Merritt Chase and Winslow Homer. In 1883 he made the Connecticut farm, known as The Land of Nod, his permanent home and began to develop his mature style, deeply influenced by both Japanese landscape painting and French Impressionism. As American Impressionism grew, Weir became part of a group known as the Ten American Painters. Many of these men spent time with Weir at his farm, taking inspiration in the bucolic landscape, including: Childe Hassam, John Singer Sargent, and John Twachtman.

When the farm became the home of Weir’s daughter, Dorothy, and her sculptor husband, Mahonri Young, it continued its legacy of artistic inspiration. The final owners, painters Doris and Sperry Andrews, were dedicated to preserving the farm as it had been during Weir’s time and protecting the open space from developers. In 1990, it became Weir Farm National Historic Site, the only National Park honoring American painting and the first National Park in the state of Connecticut, thus acknowledging the site’s importance in the development of American Impressionism.

Julian Alden Weir, his sister-in-law Ella, and Mr. and Mrs. Childe Hassam at Weir Farm. Collection Weir Farm National Historic Site.

Julian Alden Weir (1852–1919), The Laundry, Branchville, ca. 1894. Collection Weir Farm National Historic Site.

So please, don’t call me tomorrow morning for I am not able to resist and will not be in the gallery. I shall go with the masses, a veritable pilgrimage, and I will sit transfixed as I set my gaze on the giant screen. I will be reminded that all human endeavors are simply not as important as any of us think. Social convention, expectation, and status are not worthy aspirations. Three men will show the way and I will be among the first to witness the sheer genius. Many of you already know that you will soon do the same.

Tomorrow, Friday the thirteenth, The Three Stooges returns to screens everywhere in America. The world will be a better place if we allow the child within us to live again. Hail Curly!!

The recent focus on American art in major European museums marks a turning point for the art world. Earlier this year, the Louvre in Paris opened its first ever American art exhibition, centered on the father of the Hudson River School, Thomas Cole. The parallel between Questroyal’s upcoming Vedder show and the coinciding Palazzo Strozzi exhibition speaks to the universal importance of American artists abroad, to both scholars and collectors alike, on both sides of the Atlantic.

It is also interesting to compare Vedder’s oeuvre to that of the American impressionists featured in the Florentine exhibition. Although these artists shared similar experiences in their travels to those in Questroyal’s Myth and Reality, their methods greatly differed. Vedder, who lived in Florence in the late 1850s, developed a completely unique style which distinguishes his vision from other Americans working abroad, perhaps most notably in his fantasy-based compositions. An exhibition catalogue with an essay by Dr. Graham C. Boettcher of the Birmingham Museum of Art will further explore the subject of Americans working in Italy and will accompany Questroyal’s exhibit; available soon by request.

Elihu Vedder, The Gloomy Path, 1865; On view at Questroyal Fine Art

Elihu Vedder, Dominicans: A Convent Garden near Florence (Three Monks at Fiesole), ca. 1859; Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, on view at Palazzo Strozzi

Elihu Vedder, Girl with a Distaff, ca. 1871; On view at Questroyal Fine Art

Elihu Vedder, Peasant Girl Spinning, ca. 1867; McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, on view at Palazzo Strozzi

Lou shared his insights on how, in the past, American art has been overshadowed by European art.  Yet he noted that as America matures and embraces its own culture, collectors are discovering the unique talent of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American painters. He also added that investment advisors have begun to recognize American art’s utility in diversifying a portfolio. This concept, perpetuated by Salerno, has been written about and discussed in numerous financial journals and news programs, all of which contribute to growing interest in the subject.

The other members of this expert panel were: Tyler Hays, BDDW founder and lead designer; Soo Kang, Chief Interior Designer, Lincoln; and Jill Platner, artist and jewelry designer.

Check back soon to view a video excerpt of Lou’s contributions to the panel.

Photo by Jude Domiski

The Jack and Susan Warner Gallery focuses on the Emergence of the Hudson River School, 1825–50, and showcases works by several important Hudson River School artists, including Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand, John William Casilear, and John Frederick Kensett. The Met will host a Jack Warner Lecture Series devoted to American art later this year.

Jack and Susan Warner at home. From Antiques & Fine Art. Photo by Chip Cooper, 2007.

Questroyal is honored to include in this project Dr. Graham C. Boettcher, the William Cary Hulsey Curator of American Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama. Dr. Boettcher will lend his expertise on the subject to an essay in our accompanying exhibition catalogue, which will be available by request.

Elihu Vedder, The Gloomy Path, 1865

Elihu Vedder, Girl with a Distaff, ca. 1871