Details from Thomas Cole. Portage Falls on the Genesee, 1839, oil on canvas. Gift of The Ahmanson Foundation. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
In an agreement destined to have transformative results, The Ahmanson Foundation and The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens have formed a major art acquisitions partnership that provides significant funding to The Huntington to purchase masterpieces of European or American art to add to its collection.
By News Desk
The first major acquisition of the program is the Portage Falls on the Genesee (1839) by Anglo American painter Thomas Cole (1801–1848). The dramatic, large painting of the Genesee River Valley in upstate New York captures the epic scale and sublime Romanticism that define the Hudson River School.
While playing up the spectacular beauty of the American wilderness with expert use of lighting, perspective, and detailed brushwork, the arresting Portage Falls on the Genesee also describes a moment in history and foretells the impact humans will have on the scene, making a strong reference to the nascent environmental movement championed by artists and writers during the 19th century.
“The Ahmanson Foundation has long supported The Huntington’s highest-level needs,” said Huntington President Karen R. Lawrence. “But this new program is of an entirely different magnitude and specifically supports our Art Museum.
The new acquisitions program is born of a relationship between The Huntington and The Ahmanson Foundation that began in 1976. Projects made possible with The Ahmanson Foundation’s funding range from the restoration of the historic Huntington Art Gallery and the expansion of the American art galleries to the construction of the Chinese Garden, library collection development, and planned upgrades to the original 1919 library building.
Portage Falls on the Genesee
In the painting, storm clouds loom on the horizon, and, though dwarfed by the scope of the great gorge, a figure (likely the artist himself) and a few structures hint at the changes afoot. One such change would be the Genesee Valley Canal project; and, in fact, it was Canal Commissioner Samuel B. Ruggles who enlisted Cole to make the painting.
Portage Falls on the Genesee will go on view Nov. 20, 2021, in a reinstallation of the Huntington’s American art galleries.
Source: The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Edited by Ann Hunnewell.
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