Friends of the Susquehanna River Art Collection
The Susquehanna River Art Collection
The Friends of the Susquehanna River Art Collection was created with the mission to formalize the founding collection as a professional entity and build this early and strong foundation with gifts and acquisitions to further focus on the full scope of the historic and artistic legacy of the Susquehanna River Valley.
The Collection provides a rare and extraordinary portrait of this important river in American history, through a multitude of personal artistic lenses and broader arts movements, interpreted through a wide array of media and approaches. The collection establishes the Susquehanna's rightful place in American art history, as a vital and formative influence on what would become the nation's first truly American school of landscape painting.
Spanning over four centuries and comprising more than 200 works, the collection includes paintings, drawings, engravings, lithographs, etchings, books, maps ceramics and vintage printing plates and tools.
In our first 18 months the Friends have acquired more than 20 new artworks for the Collection through purchase and gifts, with other potential acquisitions on the horizon needing sponsorship. New acquisitions include:
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An important 1800 watercolor, McCall’s Ferry on the Susquehanna River, by George Beck in its original frame
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An 1836 hand-colored elephant folio engraving, Canvas Backed Ducks, by John James Audubon
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Three works by Russell Smith including an 1839 view along the Susquehanna and an exquisite 1846 tree study along the Juniata River
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Three works by Paul Weber including his large 1857 oil painting, Sunset on the Susquehanna River
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Three works attributed to Thomas Doughty including his large c1830s oil painting, River Landscape, the Hunt
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An 1839 oil painting by Alvan Fisher, The Watering Spot
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A rare 1902 oil painting by Robert Henri, The Rainstorm, Wyoming
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An early 1909 etching by Joseph Pennell and four WPA era prints featuring coal mining imagery from the Susquehanna Valley by Michael Gallagher, Harry Gottlieb, Thomas Hart Benton, and Riva Helfond
In partnership with the Susquehanna Art Museum, for the exhibition "American Identity: Restoring the Susquehanna River's Artistic Legacy," which showcased the Susquehanna River Art Collection, the Friends published a full color illustrated, 60-page catalogue with interpretative essays by Rob Evans, Terrie Sultan, and SAM curator Rachel O’Connor.
Matthaus Merian the Elder (1593 - 1650)
John Smith Map of Virginia
From Theodore De Bry's "Grand Voyages"
copper plate engraving with hand coloring, 1627
Artist unknown
A View on the Juniata River
From August 1788 issue of "Columbian Magazine"
copper plate engraving, 1788
Arnoldus Montanus (1625 - 1683)
Sasquesahanok
From "A New and Unknown World: A Description of America"
copper plate engraving with letterpress, 1673
William Strickland (1788 - 1854)
From December 1815 issue of "The Port Folio"
View on the Susquehannah
aquatint, 1815
Artist Unknown (illustration in The Port Folio for "The Foresters" poem by Alexander Wilson)
Scene on the Susquehanna
engraving, 1809
After George Beck (1749 - 1812)
Wright's Ferry on the Susquehanna
blue transferware ceramic plate produced by Staffordshire Pottery, c.1825
George Cooke (1781 - 1834)
After George Beck (1749 - 1812)
Wright's Ferry on the Susquehanna, Pennsylvania
engraving with aquatint, 1812
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George Beck (1749 - 1812)
McCall's Ferry on the Susquehannah
watercolor and gouache on paper in original frame
c.1800
Jacques Gérard Milbert (1766 - 1840)
Machine for the Portage on the Susquehanna
From Milbert's "Itinéraire Pittoresque du Fleuve Hudson"
lithograph chine colle, 1828
Fielding Lucas Jr. (1781 - 1854)
Lucas' Progressive Drawing Book
First edition, published by
Fielding Lucas Jr., Baltimore, 1827
After John H. B. Latrobe (1803 - 1891)
Sky in Stormy Weather - Falls of the Susquehanna Above Columbia
From Fielding Lucas' "Progressive Drawing Book"
hand colored engraving with aquatint, 1827
After John H. B. Latrobe (1803 - 1891)
Dark Foreground - View on the Susquehanna
From Fielding Lucas' "Progressive Drawing Book"
hand colored engraving with aquatint, 1827
Thomas Doughty (1793 - 1856)
Valley of the Susquehanna
oil on canvas, c.1830s
After Thomas Doughty (1793 - 1856)
Banks of the Juniata
From "The Token"
engraving, 1830
James Fenimore Cooper (1789 - 1851)
The Pioneers - or the Sources of the Susquehanna
First edition, published by Charles Wiley, NY, 1823
After Abner Reeder (1766 - 1841)
An Attempt to Burn John Harris
lithograph with hand coloring, 1839
After Joseph Mallord William Turner (1755 - 1851)
The Waterfall - Gertrude of Wyoming
From "Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell"
engraving, 1837
After Felix Octavius Carr Darley (1822 - 1888)
Wyoming
Engraved by J. C. McRae
Published by W. H. Holbrooke, NY
engraving, 1852
After Thomas Cole (1801 - 1848)
The Headwaters of the Juniata, Allegheny Mountains, Pennsylvania
From John Howard Hinton's "History and Topography of the United States"
steel plate engraving, 1831
After William H. Bartlett (1809 - 1854)
Columbia Bridge (on the Susquehanna)
blue transferware ceramic pitcher produced by
William Ridgway and Sons, Stffordshire, England, c.1844
After Thomas Cole (1801 - 1848)
The Headwaters of the Juniata
red transferware ceramic soup plate produced by
William Adams and Sons, Staffordshire, England, c.1831 - 61
After William H. Bartlett (1809 - 1854)
Columbia Bridge (on the Susquehanna)
From Bartlett's "American Scenery"
steel plate engraving, 1838
Russell Smith (1812 - 1896)
Capous Mountain, Susquehanna River
oil on paper,1839
William H. Bartlett (1809 - 1854)
View on the Susquehanna, at Liverpool
oil on board, c.1838
John James Audubon (1809 - 1854)
Canvas backed Ducks
hand colored engraving (Havell double elephant folio edition), 1836
Emma Catherine Embury (1806 - 1863)
Nature's Gems - American Wildflowers in their Native Haunts
First edition, with illustrations by Edwin Whitefield
published by Appleton, NY, 1845
Edwin Whitefield (1816 - 1892)
Study for Title Page of "Nature's Gems"
pencil and watercolor, 1845
After Edwin Whitefield (1816 - 1892)
various plates from "Nature's Gems - American Wildflowers in Their Native Haunts" featuring the Susquehanna River in the background,
all hand colored chromolithographs, 1845
After George Catlin (1796 - 1872)
Water Hunting For Deer, A Night Scene on the River Susquehanna, Pennsylvania
From April 11, 1857 issue of the "Illustrated London News"
wood engraving, 1857
After Thomas Moran (1837 - 1926)
View From the Bluffs at Catawissa
From June, 1862 issue of the "Harpers Monthly Magazine"
wood engraving, 1862
After Albert Berghaus (active 1860 - 1880)
Occupation of Wrightsville, Pa., by Lees Army...
From July 18, 1863 issue of "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper"
wood engraving, 1863
After Jasper F. Cropsey (1823 - 1900)
American Autumn, Starucca Valley, Erie R. Road
signed by the artist
19 color chromolithograph, c.1867
Jasper F. Cropsey (1823 - 1900)
On the Susquehanna, Autumn
oil on canvas, 1889
Henry Wolcott Boss (attrib., 1827 - 1916)
Rowing on the Susquehanna
oil on board, n.d.
Paul Weber (1823 - 1916)
Sunset on the Susquehanna River
oil on canvas, 1857
Paul Weber (1823 - 1916)
Gathering Flowers Near the Susquehanna
oil on canvas, 1852
Paul Weber (1823 - 1916)
On the Susquehanna River
oil on canvas, 1852
Thomas Bailey Griffin (1858 - 1918)
On the Susquehanna
oil on canvas, n.d.
Edmund Darch Lewis (1835 - 1910)
Susquehanna Valley
oil on canvas, 1870
Alexander Helwig Wyant (1836 - 1892)
The Upper Susquehanna
oil on canvas, 1869
Herman Herzog (1832 - 1932)
Evening Campfire on the Susquehanna
oil on canvas, n.d.
After Granville Perkins (1830 - 1895)
The Susquehanna (at Hunter's Gap)
From William Cullen Bryant's "Picturesque America"
steel plate engraving, 1873
After George H. Smillie (1840 - 1921)
On the Susquehanna (Near Great Bend, NY)
From "Gallery of Landscape Painters - American Scenery"
steel plate engraving, 1869
Nathaniel Currier (1813 - 1888) and James Ives (1824 - 1895)
The Valley of the Susquehanna
large folio, hand colored lithograph, c.1870s
Julius Augustus Beck (1831 - 1917)
Chickies Rock
watercolor, c.1898
Robert Henri (1865 - 1929)
The Rainstorm, Wyoming (Pennsylvania)
oil on canvas, 1902
Gift of Georgina T. and Thomas A. Russo
Harry Martin Book (1904 - 1971)
Construction of the Safe Harbor Dam
oil on canvas, 1930
Otto Kuhler (1894 - 1977)
Harnessing the Susquehanna: Safe Harbor Dam
etching, 1930
After Daniel Garber (1880 - 1958)
The Conowingo Dam
offset lithograph, c. 1939
published by the Philadelphia Electric Company
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Thomas Hart Benton (1889 - 1975
Strike (or Mine Strike)
lithograph, 1933
Joseph Pennell (1857 - 1926)
The Great Incline
etching, 1909
Harry Gottlieb (1895 - 1992)
Coal Pickers
lithograph, 1937
Michael Gallagher (1898 - 1965)
Black Country
wood engraving, 1937-38
Riva Helfond (1910 - 2002)
Stripping
color lithograph, c.1941
Adolf Dehn (1895 - 1968)
The Susquehanna (or Winding River)
stone lithograph, c. 1946
After Grif Teller (1899 - 1993)
Crossroads of Commerce
offset lithograph, 1950
calendar published by the Pennsylvania Railroad
John L. Lehman (1916 - 2012)
Columbia Wrightsville Bridge
oil on canvas, 1990
John L. Lehman (1916 - 2012)
Construction of the Route 30 Bridge
oil on canvas, c.1970
Rob Evans (b. 1959)
Migration
mixed media on paper, 1997
Visions of the Susquehanna Art Collection,
Susquehanna National Heritage Area
Patricia Hunsinger (b. 1960)
The River Runs Eels
screen print, 2014
Robert Patierno (b. 1949)
Musky
mixed media, 2005
Visions of the Susquehanna Art Collection,
Susquehanna National Heritage Area
Debra Bermingham (b. 1953)
Sunlight on the Susquehanna
oil and graphite on panel, 2006
Visions of the Susquehanna Art Collection,
Susquehanna National Heritage Area
Paul Caranicas (b. 1946)
Energy Sources 4: Three Mile Island - 2000
oil on canvas, 1993
Visions of the Susquehanna Art Collection,
Susquehanna National Heritage Area
Mark Innerst (b. 1957)
Old Shakey (Walnut Street Bridge)
oil on panel, 2006
Visions of the Susquehanna Art Collection,
Susquehanna National Heritage Area
Randall Exon (b. 1956)
Lift
oil on canvas, 2006
Private Collection