Art

New York State historically has been a leader in the development of the fine arts in this country.  The collection at the museum features works in a range of media relating to the Empire State from the colonial period through the twentieth century: paintings, works on paper, and sculpture. Among the highlights is an extensive group of paintings, drawings, and sketchbooks by genre artist Edward Lamson Henry.

Collections

The Historic Woodstock Art Colony, The Arthur A. Anderson Collection

Long before the famous music festival in 1969, Woodstock, New York, was home to what is considered America’s first intentionally created, year-round arts colony—founded in 1902 and still thriving over 100 years later. Collecting the remarkable range of work produced there has been Arthur A. Anderson’s focus for three decades, resulting in the largest comprehensive assemblage of its type. The artists represented in it reflect the diversity of those who came to Woodstock, including Birge Harrison, Konrad Cramer, George Bellows, Eugene Speicher, Peggy Bacon, Rolph Scarlett, and Yasuo Kuniyoshi, among many others.

Anderson recently donated his entire collection—some 1,500 objects by almost 200 artists—to the New York State Museum. This exhibition introduces to the public for the first time just a sample of the highlights of this extraordinary collection, which represents a body of work that together shaped art and culture in New York and forms a history of national and international signifcance.