Hybrid Lecture: Hudson River School of Art and its Ice Age Origins
Join the Putnam History Museum and authors Johanna and Robert Titus in-person or streamed live online for a talk on how the Hudson River School of Art was inspired by landscapes formed by ancient glaciers.
During the 19th century there was something of a cultural Renaissance here in the Hudson Valley region. America’s first world-class literature appeared. It also saw the birth of American landscape architecture. Most importantly, led by Thomas Cole, it saw the appearance of the Hudson River School of Art. In short, the region became the center of a truly important cultural movement. None of this, Johanna and Robert Titus argue, would ever have happened if the Hudson Valley, especially the North Lake area, had not been so heavily glaciated. They will take you on a journey to see how the North Lake glaciers created the landscapes that so inspired the great artists of those times.
Looking at the Hudson Valley – first it is filled with ice but later it is filled with the glacial meltwaters of something called Lake Albany. Those waters drained away and platforms composed of lake sediment emerged. Later, when people like the Livingston family came along, they built their mansions upon those platforms. Their architects designed the grounds to open up scenic views. These are called planned views, and they became central to landscape architecture as it developed all across America.
Knowing the Ice Age history that inspired all the arts of the Hudson Valley will help you appreciate them so much more.
Robert and Johanna Titus are, respectively, retired professors of Geology and Biology. They are best known in the Catskills as popular science writers. Over the years they have written for several regional magazines, including Kaatskill Life and Tri-County Historical Reviews. They currently write for local newspapers as well: the Mountain Eagle and the Columbia Paper. They are the authors of five books on Catskills and Hudson Valley geology. The Titus’s are frequently invited to present PowerPoint lectures on their research and have been seen on television and heard on radio. They have a Facebook page (“The Catskill Geologist”), a blog site (“thecatskillgeologist.com”) and can be contacted at randjtitus@prodigy.net.