The New York Historical Society
The New-York Historical Society, an educational and research institution, presents exhibitions, public programs and conducts research on history and its influence on the world of today. Founded in 1804, its mission is to explore the history of New York City and State and the country, and serve as a national forum for the debate and examination of issues surrounding the making and meaning of history.
Information
Current Exhibitions
Lincoln and New York (October 9, 2009 - March 25, 2010)
This exhibition of original artifacts, iconic images, and hand-written period documents, many in Lincoln's own hand, will for the first time fully trace the evolution of Lincoln's relationship with the nation's largest and wealthiest state: from the time of his triumphant Cooper Union address here in 1860, to his efforts to hold the Union together in 1861, to the early challenges of recruitment and investment in the Civil War, to the development of new military technologies, and the challenge to civil liberties in time of rebellion.
John Brown: The Abolitionist and his Legacy (September 15, 2009 - March 25, 2010)
This exhibition of rare materials from the Gilder Lehrman Collection and N-YHS explores Brown's beliefs and activities at a critical juncture in American history and invites us to ponder the struggle for civil rights down to the present.
Nature and the American Vision: The Hudson River School at the New-York Historical Society (2009) (September 15, 2009 - March 25, 2010)
The N-YHS holds one of the oldest and most comprehensive collections of landscape painting by artists of the Hudson River School, the first school of truly American art to garner worldwide recognition and fame. Artists, poets and writers forged the first self-consciously "American" landscape vision and literary voice, grounded in the exploration of the natural world as a source of spiritual renewal and as an expression of national identity, first expressed through the scenery of the Hudson River Valley.
New York Painting Begins: Eighteenth-Century Portraits (September 15, 2009 - March 25, 2010)
The New-York Historical Society holds one of the nation's premiere collections of eighteenth-century American portraits. During this formative century a small group of native-born painters and European émigrés created images that represent a broad swath of elite colonial New York society -- landowners and tradesmen, and later Revolutionaries and Loyalists -- while reflecting the area's Dutch roots and its strong ties with England.
In the past these paintings were valued for their insights into the lives of the sitters, and they include distinguished New Yorkers who played leading roles in its history. However, the focus in this exhibition is placed on the paintings themselves and their own histories as domestic objects, often passed through generations of family members. These works raise many questions, and given the sparse documentation from the period, not all of them can be definitively answered: why were these paintings made, and who were the artists who made them? How did they learn their craft? How were the paintings displayed? How has their appearance changed over time, and why? And how did they make their way to the Historical Society?
The state of knowledge about these paintings has evolved over time, and continues to do so as new discoveries are made. This exhibition does not provide final answers, but presents what is currently known, and invites the viewer to share the sense of mystery and discovery that accompanies the study of these fascinating works.
For more information, please visit the New York Historical Society website.
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