2022 Exhibitions and Events
About the Historical Society
Eames House - 20 Comeau Drive, PO Box 841
Woodstock, NY 12498
845 679-2256
The Historical Society of Woodstock was founded in 1929 by a group of artists, writers, academics, and local citizens. In addition to the exhibition space, which is located at the historic Eames House on Comeau Drive in the center of Woodstock, the Historical Society has an extensive archive consisting of paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, textiles, photographs, books, manuscripts, correspondence, documents, film/sound recordings, and antique tools. The archive serves as a resource for a wide range of exhibitions, public programming, and research.
Tool Shed Renovation
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The summer exhibition,
Bolt—The Art and Times of Clarence Bolton
July 2 - August 28
Saturdays and Sundays. 1 pm to 5 pm
Opening reception. July 2 at 3 pm. All welcome
20 Comeau Drive
The Historical Society of Woodstock’s summer exhibit, “Bolt” - The Art and Times of Clarence W. Bolton, will open on Saturday July 2. The exhibit will run through August 28 and will be open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00 – 5:00 pm. HSW will host an opening reception on Saturday July 2 beginning at 3:00 pm. at 20 Comeau Drive.
A young Clarence Bolton arrived in Woodstock in 1917 for a brief visit and stayed for the next 45 years. Once he came to Woodstock, he began to study painting with John Carlson. Later moved on to explore printmaking and became an accomplished lithographer, exhibiting his work all over the country. His love of Overlook Mountain and the surrounding fields and streams became the inspiration for his work. Along the way, Bolt became an integral part of the Woodstock community. Among his many interesting ventures he ran a commercial printing business, established The Nook (which later became the Café Espresso), and wrote and published The Clatter. He met and married Louise Cashdollar and was welcomed into her large, extended family.
The exhibit, features a large selection of his paintings and lithographs from the Historical Society archives, as well as numerous photographs of Clarence Bolton and his life in Woodstock.
The Historical Society of Woodstock is located at 20 Comeau Drive in Woodstock. Admission to the exhibit is free. At this time, masks are recommended. For further information, call 845-679-2256 or email info@historicalsocietyofwoodstock.org.
“Clarence Bolton: A Gallery Talk”
Saturday, July 9th, 3 pm and Saturday August 13th, 3 pm
Bruce Weber, Art Historian and Producer of Learning Woodstock Art Colony
Bruce Weber will give a gallery talk on the exhibition of Clarence Bolton's work on view at the Historical Society of Woodstock through August 28th. Dr. Weber has served as a curator at various institutions, including the Norton Museum of Art, the National Academy Museum, and the Museum of the City of New York, and has published widely in the field of American art. He has been focusing on the historic Woodstock art colony for the last several years as a writer, lecturer, and curator. Last autumn he curated the exhibition of Tomas Penning's sculpture at the Woodstock School of Art. To see some of his recent writings on the art colony go to www.learningwoodstockartcolony.com. Dr. Weber also authored an essay on Bolton's life and career that is available for purchase in the shop of the Historical Society, 20 Comeau Drive.
Woodstock Weavers
50th Anniversary Exhibit, Demonstrations, Sale
1972-2022
Featuring
Handwoven pieces by current members
Weaving, spinning, & dyeing demonstrations
At the
Historical Society of Woodstock
20 Comeau Drive
Saturdays & Sundays
April 30 - June 12, 2022
1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Opening Reception
April 30, 2022 2:00 pm
Schedule details
Shown:
Maverick Ensemble
Judith Chase
4-Shaft Summer & Winter weave
Cotton/Cotton Chenille
1960’s
Historical Society of Woodstock Receives Conservation Grant
The Historical Society of Woodstock has received a 2021 NYSCA/Greater Hudson Heritage Foundation Conservation award of $5,500 for the conservation of the paintings Hervey White in His Studio (c. 1926) by Arnold Blanch (1896-1968), and Landscape (c. 1910) by Edmund R. Rolfe (1877-1917). Conservation will be undertaken by Nadia Ghannam Fine Art Conservation.
The portrait of Hervey White by Arnold Blanch is one of the major representations of the writer and founder in the early 20th twentieth century of the Byrdcliffe and Maverick art colonies, located in the Woodstock/West Hurley area. White is pictured seated on a couch in his still-existing cottage on Maverick Road, which he named Bearcamp for the Bearcamp River in Chicaurua, New Hampshire. Upon founding the Maverick in 1905, White took on the life of a part time farmer while writing novels and entertaining. He offered houses to kindred spirits, who paid modest rents when they were able to. He built the simple rustic cottages with his own limited funds, and at times with his own hands.
Woodstock was one of the great centers of landscape painting in America in the early 20th century, and the work by Edmund R. Rolfe is an exemplary painting of this period. The artist came to Woodstock in the early years of the twentieth century to study in Birge Harrison’s painting class at the Art Students League’s Woodstock School of Landscape Painting. Under the influence of Harrison and John F. Carlson, a major school of landscape painting developed in the town initially inspired by the aesthetics of Tonalism.
More than forty grant applications were received by the Greater Hudson Heritage Network including institutions from 25 counties in New York State. Requests were made for the treatment of 70 objects of which 25 organizational awards totaling $138,157 were recommended by a peer panel of conservators, curators, and museum professionals. Conservation treatment awards range from $1,920 to the maximum amount of $7,500.
The NYSCA/GHNN Conservation Grant Treatment Program is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the Officer of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation has provided additional dedicated support for conservation treatment projects on Long Island.
BLANCH PAINTING GOING FOR CONSERVATION:
Arnold Blanch (1896-1968)
Hervey White in His Studio, c. 1926
Oil on canvas, 22” x 26”
Historical Society of Woodstock