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Elihu Vedder (American, 1836-1923), “San Gimignano,” 1858, oil on paper mounted on canvas, 17 by 13¾ inches, gift of Joseph Jeffers Dodge.

2½ col Parkes

Elihu Vedder (American, 1836–1923), “Sea Breeze, Girl with a Peacock Fan,” 1889, oil on canvas, 12¼ by 20¼ inches, Simon Parkes Collection, New York City.

FOR 11/16

‘ELIHU VEDDER’ OPENS NOV. 17 AT THE HYDE COLLECTION w/2 cuts

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GLENS FALLS, N.Y. — The Hyde Collection presents the exhibition “Elihu Vedder and Italy” on view in the museum’s Hoopes Gallery November 17–March 16.

American artist Elihu Vedder was fascinated by the art and culture of Italy. Born in New York City in 1836, Vedder traveled to Italy for the first time when he was 22 years old, returned there a few years later, and eventually settled in Rome where he died in 1923. Vedder was part of a large international circle of artists living and working in Rome in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. Although Italy was Vedder’s adoptive country, he always considered himself an American artist.

Vedder’s subject matter was inspired by a number of sources from the Bible to classical mythology, but his fame rests on his reputation as a visionary artist drawn to the classical human form, symbolic themes, and decorative design. Vedder was also a prolific landscape painter who was captivated by the rolling vistas of Tuscany and Umbria, their remote villages, and the coastal shore near Rome. The exhibition will highlight several landscape views including the early composition “San Gimignano,” 1858, considered one of the artist’s finest interpretations of this medieval Tuscan town.

This exhibition will include approximately 24 works by Vedder centered on the Hyde’s own holdings and enhanced by several loans from the esteemed collection of Simon Parkes. A versatile artist, Vedder worked in a range of media and the exhibition will feature paintings, drawings, and a relief sculpture, as well as three illustrated books by the artist. The exhibition is curated by Erin B. Coe, chief curator of The Hyde Collection.

The Hyde Collection is at 161 Warren Street. For information, 518-792-1761 or www.hydecollection.org.