Hudson River School Visions: The Landscapes of Sanford R. Gifford

Sanford Gifford (1823-1880), a leading Hudson River School landscape painter and a founder of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, was so esteemed by the New York art world that, at his untimely death, the Museum mounted a show of his work - the first monographic exhibition accorded any artist - and published a Memorial Catalogue that, for nearly a century, remained the principal source on his oeuvre. Gifford's art, which was inspired by the work of Thomas Cole, the founder of the Hudson River School, and by that of J. M. W. Turner, and enriched by his travels in Europe (from 1855 to 1857, and from 1868 to 1869), came to be called "air painting," for he made the ambient light of each scene - color saturated and atmospherically potent - the key to its expression. His approach to painting and his unique style gave rise to a highly distinctive body of work, of enchanting and mesmerizing effect. While Gifford himself compiled a "List of Chief Pictures" late in his career, a significant part of his extant oeuvre consists of small-scale studies, preparatory works in oil, and original drawings, most of which are in annotated sketchbooks and document the progression from on-site record to idealized vision achieved in his major pictures.

Eleanor Jones Harvey

Kevin J. Avery

Franklin Kelly

Heidi Applegate

Arts & Photography

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Viewers familiar with Alexander's work will recognize some of the characters who have populated his swamps, oceans, jungles, and dinner parties over the years. In the paintings and drawings gathered for this exhibition, the artist had identified works that play off the themes that have sustained him throughout his career. The result provides us, and him, with an opportunity to reflect on what it has meant to be true to his own nature, to gleefully drag us along on his nightmarish voyages, and challenge us to reject what is easy in pursuit of what is right. --Eleanor Jones Harvey, 2015

Human/Nature The Ridiculous and Sublime: Recent Works by John Alexander

Shelley DeMaria

John, Alexander

Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University

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