Capturing Nature in Science and Art, or, How to Make an Impossible Picture With Rachael DeLue May 11, 2021 The nineteenth-century German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt characterized his life’s work as an endeavor “to represent nature as one great whole, moved and animated by internal ...Read More

Frederic Church's The Natural Bridge, Virginia: American History and Anxiety With Christopher Oliver April 28, 2021 In 1851 Frederic Church travelled through Virginia in the company of his patron Cyrus Field with the goal of reaching and painting that state’s most famous landscape, the Natural ...Read More

Fallen In Conversation With Jean Shin April 14, 2021 During this presentation, learn more about Jean Shin’s work and her new project, Fallen, which brings attention to the loss of this once-majestic hemlock on Olana’s main lawn. Fallen invites viewers to reflect on this tree’s ...Read More

Eliza Pratt Greatorex & Frederic Church: Art, Travel, Faith, Home With Katherine Manthorne March 23, 2021 Eliza Pratt Greatorex (1819-1897) and Frederic Church (1826-1900) were two near-contemporary visual artists of fierce ambition and enormous talent. They inhabited the same New York art world, traveled extensively ...Read More

Into the Maelstrom: The Life and Career of Mary Edmonia Lewis With Kirsten Pai Buick February 24, 2021 In the U.S., one of the earliest and most passionate discussions around the fine arts and their role in defining American identity and national aspirations took place ...Read More

Sacred Geographies: Frederic Church, the Holy Land, and the Hudson Valley With Jennifer Raab January 6, 2021 During this Olana Perspectives Webinar, Jennifer Raab, Associate Professor in the History of Art at Yale, will investigate how Frederic Church’s travels through the Middle East and his ...Read More

Making it Last: The Art & Science of Preserving Olana’s Paper & Photographic Collections With Michele Phillips November 18, 2020 Have you ever wondered what kind of work goes into caring for the delicate and diverse permanent collection of Olana and readying works of art ...Read More

Mexican Rebozo Shawls at Olana & Beyond: From Uncertain Origins to Compromised Future With Marta Turok October 28, 2020 This talk by one of the world’s leading scholars and advocates of Mexico’s rich tradition of textile art will focus on a little known story in ...Read More

Looking at Frederic Church, 1975-2020 With Frank Kelly, Ph.D October 14, 2020 One of our country’s most prominent curator-scholars shares the unique perspective of his decades-long engagement with Frederic Church and Olana. This personal reflection looks back on how he came to know Church, to ...Read More

Partners in Design: Frederic Church, Calvert Vaux, and the Making of Olana’s Main House With Sean E. Sawyer, Ph.D September 30, 2020 Frederic Church, America’s first international art star, returned from his travels through the Near East in 1869 filled with inspiration for the great ...Read More