Beautifully illustrated introduction to and overview of the collections of the Albany Institute of History and Art.
Founded in 1791, the Albany Institute of History and Art is one of the nation’s oldest cultural institutions. Today, it boasts outstanding collections largely focused on New York State’s upper Hudson River valley. These include Hudson River school landscape paintings, portraits by Ezra Ames and Charles Loring Elliott, sculpture by Erastus Dow Palmer, landscape and interior paintings by Walter Launt Palmer, and Albany-made silver and other crafts.
This comprehensive overview of the Albany Institute of History and Art’s American art and decorative-arts collections presents color plates and essays on about 130 objects (of a total exceeding 20,000). Dating from the beginning of the seventeenth century to the late twentieth century, each object in this volume was chosen for its national significance, artistic merit, and relevance to the Institute’s mission: collecting and interpreting the art, history, and culture of New York State’s upper Hudson River valley through four centuries.
At the Albany Institute of History and Art, Tammis K. Groft is Deputy Director for Collections and Exhibitions, and Mary Alice Mackay is Research Associate. Groft is the author of Cast with Style: Nineteenth Century Cast-Iron Stoves from the Albany Area.
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