New Perspectives on the Hudson River School
Single Session Class | Registration closed 9/10/2025
In this session, which will include a tour of Hudson River School paintings in Vassar's Loeb Art Center, Professor Peck will explain the importance of the School in the history of American art and culture. He will highlight the works of the School's founder, Thomas Cole— both Cole's allegorical works and his American landscape scenes. Cole's representations of trees, compared with such representations by twentieth-century artist Georgia O'Keeffe, will also be discussed. Notable followers of Cole, such as Asher B. Durand, will also be examined, as will under-recognized women painters of the Hudson River School such as Susie M. Barstow.
H. Daniel Peck
Dan Peck is the John Guy Vassar Professor Emeritus of English at Vassar College. He is the author and editor of numerous books about American literature and art, including, most recently, Thomas Cole's Refrain (Cornell University Press, 2019).