From Pristine Wilderness to Industrial Thoroughfare: New Exhibit Traces the Hudson’s Evolution

By Daniel Katzive

The beauty of the Hudson River and its valley has captivated artists since the early days of our republic. In the aftermath of the Revolutionary War, Romantic painters seeking to capture the grandeur of the new country traveled north and found magnificent landscapes easily accessible by water. The resulting Hudson River School movement was “America’s first true artistic fraternity,” according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art..

Of course, the  unspoiled natural landscape existing in the early years of the 19th Century did not last for long. The rich mineral resources of the Hudson Valley were mined and quarried to supply the rapidly expanding metropolis to the south with construction materials. Manufacturers found the river an excellent place to set up shop, with access to raw materials nearby, plenty of cool water to run their boilers and flush away waste, and the ability to ship product downstream to the bustling Port of New York for export. The railroads soon followed, eager for a water level route into the interior of the continent, and track was laid along the entire eastern shore of the river up to Albany, and on the western shore from the town of Haverstraw north. Trains continue to run on these lines today, carrying passengers on the east side and freight on the west.

A recently opened exhibit at Columbia University’s Wallach Art Gallery traces the ecological journey of the Hudson River from pristine wilderness to industrial thoroughfare, primarily through paintings and photography. The gallery is on the sixth floor of the Lenfest Center for the Arts on Columbia’s new Manhattanville campus, which is itself worth a visit, just north of West 125th Street and Broadway.

By the time many of the Hudson River School painters arrived upstream, industrialization was already well underway. They chose to edit it out of their representations, preferring to create natural landscapes consistent with their Romantic ideals. By the early 20th century, however, modernist painters in the Hudson Valley began to focus more on industry as they grappled with the shock of an increasingly mechanized world. These industrial landscapes provide the main thread of the exhibit, distinguishing the collection from many other Hudson River School shows.

One painting in particular, entitled Freight Yards, 1915, by Gifford Reynolds Beal, might catch the eye of Upper West Siders. The exact location of the painting is not identified, but it seems clearly to be the New York Central’s 69th Street Transfer Bridge, the remains of which are still visible today in Riverside Park South, along with the adjacent Pier i, now a recreational pier, but then a structure for transferring cargo from freight cars to barges. There are not many photos of these structures in use, so the painting provides a valuable record.

The exhibit leans heavily into the theme of environmental degradation and pollution, and the paintings certainly convey the impact of industry on the natural landscape. But one senses the artists were also a bit awed by the majesty and production of the new economy, and there is beauty to be found in their depictions of swirling smoke and flames. And the transformation of the Hudson Valley did help build New York City, both economically and physically. The stone quarried upstate is on our buildings and beneath our feet, mixed into concrete, asphalt, and gravel. 

Today, a myriad of regulators and nonprofit watchdogs keep a careful eye on what goes into the Hudson River and what happens on its banks. The water is cleaner than it has been in over 100 years. But the valley’s natural infrastructure advantages also remain compelling. Some of the rock quarries depicted in these early paintings are still in use, with stone shipped daily down the river by barge to feed our construction industry’s insatiable appetite. 

A few factories also continue to operate along the Hudson, including a sugar refinery in Yonkers, which is depicted in a 1915 painting, and continues to bring raw sugar in by ship and barge to be refined there to this day. 

Shifting Shorelines: Art, Industry and Ecology along the Hudson River, is open Wednesday through Sundays from noon until six p.m. and runs through January 12. The gallery is located at 615 West 129th Street, between Broadway and Riverside Drive. An accompanying book is available for purchase.

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